New series coming soon!

I've been a bit MIA lately and there are a lot of reasons for that.  

One is that blogging takes time, who knew?!  I have been wearing a lot of hats lately, probably like you: Wife, Mom, Church leader, Professional Organizer, senior Clever Container consultant, Tastefully Simple consultant, and Data Collector for UAMS currently focused on research for the USDA.  I hope I am not forgetting something.  

While my plate has been so full I have struggled to find balance and my personal home organization is suffering.  So I decided to add something else to my schedule.  What?!  I know full well that investing time in getting my home back in shape will help in all areas of my life.  However, I kept putting it on the back burner, much like my friend Jackie over at Creative Outpour.  So, when she approached me about a project, we ended up with an organizing - blogging - accountability challenge.

What will happen?

We are each independently working on our homes one space at a time.  And we're letting you in on it to show you how we're doing it.  We will likely attack our spaces at different paces.  We are wired differently and our focus will be different.  We will likely approach the organizing process differently.

Regardless of how different our styles might be, we are both so ready for more peace and clarity that comes from a more organized home.

So, who is Jacqueline?  She is a Mom of two, just like me.  She is the founder of Creative Outpour where, you guessed it, she pours out her creativity on her blog.  Like you and me she wears a lot of hats and it's a challenge to balance it all.

So, come back every Thursday. I'll share with you what I've worked on this week.  And then you can go to Creative Outpour and see what she worked on this week.  It'll be fun.  It'll be honest.  And why not join us?  Start working on your own "clutter traps" as Jacqueline puts it.

Wordless Wednesday - organized office supplies makes everyone happy!

7 tips for maintaining an organized home

Jeri Dansky has written a great article here on Unclutter!

The highlights?

Make it super easy to put things away.

Make sure everything has a home.

Use good tools.

Develop a routine.

If finances allow it, consider hiring help. (That's us...here at Simply Organized)

Do a periodic uncluttering.

...and you have to read the article to find out the 7th tip.  Dansky has written some very helpful details about each of this incredibly helpful points. 

Go read more now!  

How to be inspired to de-clutter

Do you ever look through pinterest thinking your home could never look like that.  Or have you finally come to the realization that it could look closer to that if you would de-clutter and clean up better?

A few nights ago I was pinning away on pinterest.

I went back a few days later to look further into what I pinned and fell in love with a blog.  It's this one:

ITSY BITS AND PIECES

Last night I found myself on this post:  http://itsy-bits-and-pieces.blogspot.com/2013/04/end-of-tour-bachmans-2013-spring-ideas.html, and falling in love with some images:

But mostly this one:

I first noticed the organizer on the floor and liked it.  I love the baskets on the bottom.  Then I noticed the cleverly hung file containers on the wall.  Not only do I like them, I love how they are hung!  How smart is that?!  And then I noticed the backdrop.  I think that is fabric.  Which nicely outlines this organized area.  I am in love.

Walk through this site because there are so many eye-pleasing and inspiring photos on there!

Let it inspire you to de-clutter and reorganize.  Don't get bogged down in pinterest perfection.  Focus on what is good enough and have fun!

Wordless Wednesday - labels in an office means everyone can find the extra pens!

How to get things done with the right productivity tools.

This is Robb.  And Robb wears a bazillion hats: full-time worker who often travels, full-time husband, full-time Dad of three, he birthed and Pastors a local church here in Fayetteville, AR, he's an author, and of course a blogger.

He's also a pretty organized guy.  Last Fall he shared with me one way he has simplified his daily life.  His wardrobe consists of Khaki colored pants, jeans, and navy or white shirts.

Today he shares with us the tools he uses which help him scratch to-dos off his list so he can wear each of his hats well.

So, today he is sharing with us tools he uses to help him get things done.  Enjoy, and thanks Robb!

Productivity Tools

FEB 05

I am always very interested in tools and ideas that can help me to be more productive and effective. It’s not that I’m not usually productive and effective. It’s that I usually have a lot of plates spinning in my life. I need to keep them all organized. I need to make sure I don’t forget stuff. I need to keep things from falling through the cracks.

And so I pay attention to leadership and management techniques. I try out different organizational methods. I set and reset and rereset goals. I make a lot of to do lists. And every once in a while I stumble across things that really help.

Recently, I’ve begun incorporating some new organizational and productivity tools into my routine. I thought I would share them with you.  

Reminders – Normally, I have one giant to do list of everything that I need to do. I try to keep this list so that I don’t forget anything. If I think of it, it goes on the list. I’ve blogged before about how in addition to this, I will often make a list of what I have to do today that will enable me to sleep well tonight. This system has worked well for me – except, I spend more time than I really want to writing and re-writing these lists. The page gets too full or too sloppy. I’ve got to transcribe it all. Until now.

I’ve started using Reminders, an app on my MacBook that syncs with my iPad and iPhone. Reminders lets me create multiple to do lists. So, instead of one big list, I’ve got several big lists broken into categories, keeping track of everything I can think of that I need to do. My lists include categories such as Work, Home, Vintage, Fundamorphosis, and the Blog. But I also have a Today list. The best thing about Reminders is that I can start each day by simply dragging items from my different lists into the Today list. It lets me easily manage a doable Today list from the monster lists of everything I don’t want to forget. Everything gets remembered. Everything gets organized. Everything gets done.

E.ggtimer.com – When it comes to getting stuff done, I’ve started using e.ggtimer.com. Each day, when I drag items to my Today to do list, I add a note about how long I think it will take me to get that thing done. 5 minutes. 20 minutes. 2 hours. When it’s time to tackle that project, I go to e.ggtimer.com and enter the time. And then I race myself to see if I can get it done in time. (Right now there are 34 minutes and 13 seconds on the clock for this blog post to be written and posted.) I do my best work when I have deadlines. They keep me from getting distracted and wasting time. E.ggtimer.com lets me create my own deadlines. In fact, I don’t even have to go to e.ggtimer.com, I can just type e.ggtimer.com/5minutes ore.ggtimer.com/1hour into my browser bar … and away we go.

Evernote – I realize that I am late to this party. But I have started using Evernote as an app on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. I’ve got it set up with notebooks for all of the different things going on in my life. I have the web clipper extension installed in Chrome so that I can save webpages and articles that I want to read or reflect on later. I’ve got it synced with my calendar so that when I want to take notes in a meeting, it knows what I’m doing. Evernote has moved out of obscurity and into my dock. And I can’t imagine it going back any time soon.

Email – I’m trying to only check my email a few times a day. This may be the hardest change I’ve been trying to make! I’m used to refreshing my email over and over. My work mail has always been open. My gmail tab has always been open. Email distracts me from other things I need and want to get done. So … I’m working on checking my email only a couple of times a day, but also emptying my inbox when I do. I set myself time on e.ggtimer.com and then get it all handled.

In addition to all of this, I’ve been thinking a lot about a video I saw of Bill Hybels talking about his 6×6 method of leadership. I’m intrigued. I also follow Seth Godin and Michael Hyatt daily. They inspire me.

And … I’m seriously considering hiring a virtual assistant. I’ve read a lot about people who have been able to outsource a lot of mundane but necessary tasks so that they can be more free to focus on what they have to do and want to do. I feel this pressure. I think I’ve got a number of projects, especially related to my book and personal life, that could easily be done by someone else. But I’m not quite sure where to start or what to expect. I’ve got a phone call tomorrow with a virtual assistant company to get more information. My guess is that it will be way out of my price range. But … you never know.

These are some of the things I’m doing to be more productive and effective, organized and efficient. How about you? Any tricks or apps or experiences you’d like to share with all of us?

Wordless Wednesday - Organized kitchen!

Posted with my thumbs :)

How to organize your receipts

I worked more on my desk area this week.  Little by little folks...that's one way to do it.  When you can't dedicate a big chunk of time, you break the big problem into small ones.  Simply see what's not working and try something you think will work. I have been having a receipt issue.  So I decided I need to sort my receipts better until I sit down once a week to itemize and such.  btw, I am not a photographer!

I started with these small Drawer Dividers.  They are a great length for receipts.  I got them from CleverHolly. They are in the closet section and are $10 for a pack of 3.  Here is what they look like once you quickly assemble them (they arrive flat).  (I also bought the bronze looking expandable pantry shelf for my desk...you can find it in the kitchen section at CleverHolly.)

Let me inform you that I am not crafty.  But I am a washi tape freak all of a sudden.  You should see my washi pinterest board!   So, I put a different style of washi tape on the end of my boxes.  

Then I labeled them for the receipts I need to tend to.  But I didn't like the way they looked with the plain label.

So, I used these crafty looking labels I already had and now I think it looks better.  

Isn't that totally fun?  Like I said, I am not a crafter and I did this super fast so it's not perfect.  But in 15 minutes I have a whole new and really cute system!

Wordless Wednesday - Organized mail station

Posted with my thumbs :)

Wordless Wednesday

Posted with my thumbs :)