What we’re experiencing with the Coronavirus is unprecedented.

Many of us are on lockdown. With children. My kids are 13.5 and almost 10. They’re great kids who play well together (most of the time), take their new online/distance learning education seriously (it’s week 1…), and have a basketball hoop outside to help them shake off some energy. I spend my mornings shuttling between their two bedrooms answering questions, assisting with technology, and I even learned a new skill–how to highlight text in Google Docs.

‘Online school’ in our town will be from 9am-1pm Monday through Friday for at least the next two weeks. After lunch and some ‘chillaxin’ time,’ the plan is to use part of the afternoon for what I call ‘Electives.’ This afternoon my kids will be taking ‘Home Economics’ and helping me make meatballs. Yesterday, my youngest son and I explored watercolors during ‘Art’ and tomorrow he’ll practice his xylophone during ‘Music.’

Besides the basic school electives, I could not call myself a Professional Organizer if I didn’t at least try to engage my kids in a little organizing while we are house-bound. It’s an important life skill and we’ve got the time to practice it!

Life with kids regardless of their age can be hectic. Over the past few months, my husband and I have been juggling our workloads, our two kids on three different basketball teams, volunteer work for religious and professional organizations, family and friends, with little time to tackle some organizing projects that have needed our attention (Familiar with the whole ‘shoemaker has no shoes’ saying?).

You may have experienced a similar weekly/monthly time crunch. As long as no one is ill in your household, this would be a good time to have your kids sharpen their organizing skills after completing their schoolwork. It will teach them a life skill, help keep your home in order, and keep them busy with a productive activity when the day feels like it may never end.

Here are some ideas on where to begin and tips to make it as painless as possible…

Three areas of organizing to focus on with your kids are: organizing time, organizing space, and organizing stuff.

Organizing Time

For many kids, their online schooling will take place in the morning. But afternoons, evenings, and weekends are wide open. Let’s work with them on some time management skills…

Promote the benefits of sticking to a basic schedule – Kids thrive on routine. It gives them a sense of security and predictability. School-aged kids follow a schedule in school–create something similar in your home. During this period of time spent at home, it’s imperative for your child’s well-being for them to know what’s coming next in their world in the days and weeks ahead.

Create a visual schedule of their days
Work with your kids to create a paper-based or digital schedule for weekdays and weekends using the concept of Time Blocking.  From the website Doist.com: “Time blocking is a time management method that asks you to divide your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task, or group of tasks, and only those specific tasks. … With days that are time blocked in advance, you won’t have to constantly make choices about what to focus on.”

Together with your kids, create a list of everyday and weekly tasks, to-do’s, projects, and fun to plug into their daily at-home schedule. Tweak as necessary.

Help them prioritize tasks
Prioritizing is all about figuring out what is most important. Assisting your child with the art of prioritizing gives them a life skill that prepares them for the future. Take that list you made with your kids for Time Blocking purposes and use it help them make decisions as to what’s most important to accomplish during a ‘school’ day and on the weekends while at home. Be flexible–this unusual time isn’t easy for them or us.

For more on the how time management can make your life and your child’s life easier, read…

The Top 10 Life Benefits of Time Management

Organizing Space

An organized space is key to one’s physical and mental well being. Your kids are already being forced to stay indoors for most of their day and may be stressed about the global pandemic. This is the time to help them make sure their personal space is clean and orderly.

Bedroom/Playroom
Stand with your child in the room and together determine the categories of items that need to be organized. Basics are books, toys, clothes, electronics, etc. I don’t recommend purging much more than any trash that might be around the room. This is a challenging time for everyone and keeping the space in order is more important at this point than getting rid of what you think your child doesn’t need anymore.

Online learning workspace
Your child(ren) will be engaging in online/distance learning for at least a few weeks–it’s important that their space be organized. This may include laptops, Chromebooks, scrap paper, pens/pencils/crayons, a spot for a snack, etc. Talk to your child(ren) about their needs and help them set up and organize their temporary school space for success.

Organizing Stuff

Oh, the things that can be organized when you’re at home for weeks on end!

Books, Toys, Art Supplies, School Papers
Like I mentioned above, no need for much purging unless something is broken and beyond repair.  Just keeping each category of items all together in one spot will be sufficient. The phrase, ‘organized enough’ is one to keep in mind as the days turn into weeks.

Clothes
Spring is coming! After we ‘flatten the curve’ and we’re safe to go back to our usual lives it’s going to be too warm (in many parts of the country) to wear the clothes we wore in March. This is the perfect time to try on shorts and bathing suits and take inventory of what clothes your kids will need for the Spring and Summer.
*Tip: I park my kids in front of the TV to try clothes on them. It keeps them occupied, I hear less complaining, and it gets the job done fairly quickly and painlessly! 

Pantry
Do you have a space in your kitchen where your kids can get their own snacks? If not, this is the time to make one. You’re most likely trying to work–the fewer interruptions you have, the better.  Talk to your kids about what snacks they’d like to have accessible in the fridge and pantry/cabinet. Set up a bin, bag, or shoebox (whatever you have handy) and place the snacks where they can reach them themselves.
*Tip: Know your kid–if they can’t be trusted alone with a baggie of Cheerios when you’re not in the same room, stick to something less messy or one or two of something like a Fig Newton or a granola bar.

Helpful Tips

Group Like with Like
Most kids as young as preschoolers can follow this basic organizing principle. Dolls with dolls, all socks in one drawer, all copies of Captain Underpants live together on the shelf, etc.

Break it Down
Keep organizing projects short and sweet. No more than 15 – 30 minutes a day for everyone’s sanity! One shelf. One drawer. One bin of Hot Wheels cars. That’s it. Do more tomorrow. Or wait for the weekend.

Put things back where they belong
This is a basic organizing principle that is used in schools and is beneficial at home, too. Take 10-15 minutes a day to do a sweep of toys, books, school supplies, etc. and put them back where they live. This will make it easier for your kids to find what they need next time they need it–and less likely for them to need to interrupt you while you’re TRYING to work from home.

Plan for tomorrow
Planning is another important life skill. Have your kids think about what they want to eat for lunch tomorrow, what they might want to wear (most likely pajamas), and who they might want to FaceTime with after their schoolwork is done. Planning ahead helps kids to make decisions and focus on their future needs.

Not About Organizing, But Still Helpful Tips

• While you’re cleaning out your drawers/cabinets/shelves if you find something a local friend or neighbor could use, drop it off at their apartment or front stoop (and call/text/email them to let them know it’s there!). Kindness goes along way during a pandemic…

• Organize video playdates for your kids. It’s not really organizing but it does take planning and effort. My youngest son has had two already and it has kept him happy and in touch with his friends.

• Stay as calm as you can with EVERYONE home ALL THE TIME. Here’s a great Youtube channel with relaxing music that I listen to when I’m feeling stressed: OCB Relax Music.

• Engage in some adult and kid coloring for stress relief. It’s a relaxing group activity and goes very well with the relaxing music I just mentioned. If you don’t have any coloring books in the house, type ‘adult coloring book printable free’ into Google–pages of hits appear. Do the same for your kids, print a few pages, and relax a bit while coloring.

• Buy (if you can find any…) these Clorox wipes that smell like a piña colada. Who couldn’t use some of THAT right now? Am I walking around disinfecting my house or am I walking on the beach? (I’ve heard being sequestered can make one delusional…)

Resources

5 Tips for Navigating the Online/Virtual Learning Process
Sample Schedules for Kids Home From School During Coronavirus Outbreak
What If Coronavirus Means Your Kids Are Stuck at Home? 29 Indoor Activities for Kids
How to Prepare for Extended School Closings–And Not Lose Your Mind
Art for Kids Hub
GoNoodle – Get Moving
PBS Kids

We’re living in stressful times but getting your home and kids organized can help reduce that stress. Be safe. Be healthy. Please do your part to ‘flatten the curve.’ Together we can save lives.

Where I live, it’s kinda cold. And it’s the first day of Spring (insert frowny face here). As much as I’d love to start doing a little spring cleaning in my closet, I still need my polartec tops and flannel lined jeans. May have to start elsewhere this weekend…

But, if you live in a warmer climate or just can’t look at your boots one more day, then by all means start spring cleaning your clothes closet.

Here are the 5 ‘must-haves’ you’ll need for this project:

Garbage bags

Despite their name, these bags won’t all be used for garbage. Grab two colors–black, white, and a third bag can be a reusable tote. Designate black for trash, white for donations, and the tote for repairs. Why use this system? I have heard stories of people accidentally donating their trash and putting their donations to the curb because they used bags of one color.

As you are sorting through and purging clothes from your closet, place them in the correct bag. Clothes with repairable tears and shoes/handbags that need a little TLC from the shoemaker go in your tote bag. When you finish, place the black bags wherever you keep your trash, put the donation and repair bags in your car or at your doorway, and mark off a day on your calendar to drop off them off at their next destinations.

Pad of paper and pen or cell phone

As you go through your clothes, you may find that they have an old stain, they’re too loose or tight, or you just don’t love it anymore. When getting rid of garments, keep a list of items you’d like to replace. That way, when you’re at the mall, you don’t have to think about what clothes you need–just refer to your list and you’ll know exactly what purchases to focus on. Use pen and paper or your cell phone to create the list–whichever works best for you.

Bottle of water/snack

Spring cleaning a clothes closet is a physical activity. Handling some sentimental items and items with ‘bad karma’ attached to them can be emotional as well. Even if you’ve eaten a large meal before starting, I’d recommend having a bottle of water and a snack at arm’s reach. You’ll need a break to clear your head and refuel–how often you do that during this task is up to you and your needs. But, I always advise my clients to bring a snack and drink into the space we’re working on. It means they don’t have to leave the room and lose focus while we’re working.

Large flat or multiple small flat surfaces

When doing a spring cleaning of your clothes closet, it’s important to have a place to put the clothes while sorting them out. If your closet is in your bedroom, use the bed to place the garments down as you make decisions. If your clothes live in a room without a bed, use folding chairs or storage tubs to separate your clothes by category. The floor is NOT a good option unless absolutely necessary. If that’s the case, please open a flat sheet, lay it on the floor and place your piles on top of the sheet.

Time

A basic organizing principle to follow for spring cleaning or any organizing task is. ‘Make an Appointment With Yourself.’ We make appointments to see doctors and to make our hair look fabulous and we wouldn’t consider canceling them except in an emergency. Do the same with Spring Cleaning. Take out your calendar and pick a day to start. Pencil in 15 minutes, a half hour, an hour–whatever amount of time you think you can manage. Keep that appointment. You’ll be glad you did.

Are you ready to spring cleaning your clothes closet? What do you think you’ll find in your closet this Spring?

Every year around the months of March and April we hear people talking about it, we read about it in magazines, and see thousands of pins on Pinterest about it.

What could I be referring to?

Spring Cleaning!

We all use the phrase freely but do you know where the expression ‘Spring Cleaning’ actually comes from? I had no idea, so I took to Google for some answers!

The history of ‘Spring Cleaning’ tells us that back in the ‘olden days,’ spring cleaning was a much different concept than it is today. Prevalent in climates with cold winters, this type of cleaning was a necessary routine because of how people had to heat their homes and keep them lit. They would use kerosene, wood, gas, oil, and candles which caused the home to develop a dark, sooty grime around it.

The arrival of spring signaled warmer temperatures and the need to clean the ash, soot, and grime left behind on household surfaces. Thus, the notion of ‘Spring Cleaning’ was born. Thankfully, most of us have modern heating systems and have an easier spring cleaning routine. Although we have modern-day cleaning supplies, I for one am grateful that I don’t have to deal with such a mess!

Today, we do not do ‘Spring Cleaning’ for the same reasons our ancestors did. In the 21st century, most people think of ‘Spring Cleaning’ as a time to throw open the windows, exchange their sweaters for lighter-weight clothing, and clear through clutter that has collected as we burrowed in our homes during the months of winter. It’s a time to re-energize our bodies and our homes for the coming seasons.

Warmer weather is on the way! Look at your calendar…when will you make an appointment to start your Spring Cleaning?

If you spend a good amount of your time surfing the web, I’m sure you’ve heard of Pinterest. If not, run–don’t walk to the site that is taking social media by storm.

According to their website, “Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing the things you love.”

As a user, I would say that, “Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing images of inspiration.”

A little over a year ago, I joined Pinterest–read all about it here: Organized Artistry is on Pinterest!. I’ve been having a great time with it.

On Pinterest, you create and categorize ‘pin boards’ according to your interests. After you create your themed-boards, you load your own visuals or ‘re-pin’ visuals posted by others to your boards. I created boards for my organizing business and some that have to do with the book I’m writing for brides.  I thought that would be my only use for Pinterest, but it has much more to offer…

– When the time comes to make some major changes in my home, I’ll not only be flipping through decorating magazines, I’ll also be looking for decorating inspiration on Pinterest.

– I have found recipes to cook for my son who has multiple food allergies.

– There are tons of posts on clothing, makeup and health that I have learned from.

It is very easy to get sucked into the visual wonderland of Pinterest for HOURS at a time. There’s so much to see and learn!

Besides other categories, there must be thousands of ‘Organizing’ pins on Pinterest. So many great ideas to learn from and implement in your life!

Since time is precious, I would like to offer you some of my favorite organizing pins on Pinterest. Some I created myself and some I re-pinned from other boards.

Disclaimer: Although I love Pinterest, I think that there are many visuals on the site (especially the ‘Organizing’ visuals) that promote ‘perfection.’ Items in the photos are neatly lined up, labeled and look as if they are untouched by humans. Being organized is not about being perfect. It’s about being able to find what you need when you need it–plain and simple. I try to not promote or perpetuate the idea of perfection in my boards/pins, with my clients and in my own home.

I’ve seen some creative and mega-cool organizing ideas on Pinterest. Here are a few I think you will enjoy, appreciate and find inspiring…

From my ‘Kitchen Organizing’ Board

From my ‘Get Ready for Spring Cleaning’ Board

Spring Cleaning or all-year-round cleaning–this is my favorite cleaning product. With two little boys in the house, I use the Magic Eraser A LOT! Most of its use is in my kitchen with white appliances. It ‘erases’ dirt–yes, magically and is the only thing I have found that can cut through the greasy, sticky spots on my stove top.

From my ‘My Favorite Organizing Products’ Board

You won’t find this organizing product at The Container Store. It’s a productivity app called Evernote.  From their website: “Evernote helps you remember, act upon (and share) ideas, projects and experiences across all the computers, phones and tablets you use.” Every time I get an idea or wish to record information about some aspect of my business or personal life, I store it in Evernote for future reference. My desk would have a zillion post-its strewn across it without Evernote.

A while ago, I wrote a blog post called, “Ready for Spring Cleaning?” In that post, I talked about a basic organizing principle: Make an Appointment With Yourself to Get Organized.

The process of getting organized can be overwhelming. Most people are unsure as to where or how to begin. Making an appointment with yourself to get organized is a starting point. Carving out that time to chip away at a pile of papers or sort through your sock drawer is a necessary step towards de-cluttering your home and reaching your organizing goals.

A few weeks ago,  I got an email from my friend, Deb–the subject line said ‘Photo Albums.’ The email stated that she was blocking out some time one night to work on her photo albums–did anyone want to bring theirs and join her at her dining room table?

I read that email and later responded, “I’ll be there…”

You know the phrase, ‘The shoemaker’s son has no shoes?’ Well, sometimes Professional Organizers spend so much time organizing others, that projects of their own fall by the wayside. In my case, it would be photos and photo albums.

I have two small children and I take a ton of pictures and videos of them on my camera and iPhone. I download them but haven’t always kept up with the ordering of pictures and placing them in albums. My relatives are constantly asking me for pictures of my kids. I’ve bought picture frames but don’t have the pictures to put in them. The signs were there–it was time to make an appointment with myself to organize my photos and albums.

A few days before the photo album gathering I took inventory of what I had:

• one broken photo album (wear and tear from 2 kids flipping pages)
• two new photo albums (ordered months ago and still in the box they shipped in)
• pictures I had printed but not put in albums yet (already separated by child)

To prepare for ‘Photo Night’, I removed all the pictures from the broken album and sorted through and purged a few out. I removed all pictures from my first child’s second album, too. I loaded all my photo albums and pictures into a large shopping bag and was ready to go.

I only worked on my albums for an hour and a half but got a lot accomplished. I managed to put all pictures from birth to two years old in the albums designated for my eldest child. Making this appointment with myself motivated me to keep working on this important project. The next night at my own dining room table, I finished putting the pictures of my oldest child in his albums.

My next steps are to:

• Sort and purge through pictures of my youngest child.
• Put them in chronological order
• Place them in the designated album
• Check the end of each album to see the last pictures I ordered. Go on iPhoto and order copies for relatives and the albums
• Give out pictures and place the rest in albums

My goal is to finish this project by the end of May. I will be making an appointment with myself each week to make that happen and I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Thanks, Deb for giving me the jumpstart I needed to organize my photos!

It’s Spring! And after weeks of Spring Cleaning, de-cluttering and purging, you may be ready to host a yard sale.

When my husband I got married and joined households years ago, we had a yard sale. It was a fun and exhausting 2-day event that took weeks of preparation. We had a lot of stuff! We made enough money to buy a eight-person patio set for our backyard and anything that didn’t sell was donated to the Vietnam Veterans Association.

A few months ago some of my yard sale tips were featured in an article on SheKnows.com called ‘Tips for Holding a Successful Yard Sale.’ The article offers good advice and ideas on how to price, market, display and negotiate. If you’re thinking of hosting a yard sale, I suggest you take a few moments to read it–you just may pick up a few tips to make your yard sale not just successful–but profitable, too.

For most of us, recycling is part of our everyday lives. We gather paper, plastic and glass and reap the health, environmental and economic benefits to recycling.

But, recycling isn’t just about putting your newspapers and tin cans at the curb. You can recycle much more than that–just walk into your local Best Buy.

I wandered in to Best Buy one day to buy a gift card for my nephew and upon entering the store, I saw this…

I couldn’t believe all of the items they took for recycling!

-Plastic Bags
-Wires, Cables and Cords
-Gift Cards
-CD’s, DVD’s and their Cases
-Ink and Toner Cartridges
-Rechargeable Batteries

I started thinking about all of the items in my home I could place in this recycle bin. I took the above photo as a reminder (and for this blog post), looked through my home and came upon a few items I could ‘donate’ to the recycle bin. I placed the bag of items in my car and a few days later they were living in my local Best Buy’s recycling bin.

I later learned that Best Buy recycles more than just what you can put in the bin. They take back TVs, mobile phones, video games and other electronics. To read more about other items Best Buy recycles, go to their recycle page. You’ll be shocked at the variety of items you’ll be able to recycle at their store. There are many good resources for recycling on that page, too.

Time to look through your attic, basement, closets and garage–bring your unwanted electronics to Best Buy for a little e-Spring Cleaning!

Do you love social media? Are you also a visual person? Then unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know about Pinterest.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Pinterest (according to their website) “is a ‘virtual pinboard.’ Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.”

I first noticed it when a few of my organizing colleagues began posting their Pinterest boards on their Facebook Pages. It looked interesting so I checked it out and was immediately hooked (it can be very addictive)! I’m a visual person with an art background–I find it to be a great way to collect and share ideas with others.

You have to request an invite to ‘join’ (which could take a few days or a few weeks) or ask someone already on Pinterest to give you an invite (that’s what I did). Once you’re ‘in’ you can start creating boards of topics that interest you and ‘pinning photos and videos to them.

Tip: Load the ‘Pin it’ bookmarklet to your browser–it allows you to ‘pin’ any photo/video from the web to your boards.

I have a bunch of boards on the topic of organizing and I’ve created a few on the topic of weddings related to my book and the manuscript I’m working on. If you look in the right column of this blog you’ll see a button that says ‘Follow me on Pinterest.’ Click to follow me but if you’d like, first take a quick glance at my boards…

Organized Artistry’s Organizing Boards
Organizing Product I’ve Blogged About
Helpful Organizing Books
My Favorite Organizing Products
Organizing on the Cheap
Kitchen Organizing
Quick Organizing Tips
Get Ready for Spring Cleaning!
YOUR Favorite Organizing Products

Organized Artistry’s Wedding Boards
Organize for WeddingPlanning
Stylish Wedding Thank You Notes

Then there’s my board called ‘OMG–So Cute!‘ I see a lot of cute stuff in my Newsfeed–can’t be about business ALL the time, ya know…

To learn more about Pinterest, here are a few articles that will be helpful to beginners:

Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide to the Hot New Social Network

Pinterest Tips–A Tutorial Guide for Beginners

Happy pinning! Anyone need an invite?

Maybe you used to work in an office and had tons of professional clothing. Then, you had a baby and decided to leave your job. Or, you lost a few pounds and some items no longer fit you. Maybe your style has changes or your office dress code has been done away with.

Regardless of the reason, today is the perfect day to purge your closet of any professional clothes that you no longer want or need.

Why? Well, it’s for a good cause.

Dress for Success is an organization that encourages the self-sufficiency of women and helps them enter the work force and take charge of their lives. They are partnering this weekend with Dressbarn to collect new and gently used professional clothing for women.

So, I am asking you to go into your closets and look for blazers, skirts, dress pants, suits–anything a woman could wear to an office. This is the perfect time of year (being so close to Spring Cleaning time) and the perfect cause to ‘let go.’

The Send One Suit drive began yesterday and continues through Sunday, March 4th. Besides a tax deduction receipt, I hear you get a 15% off coupon from Dressbarn when you donate. Don’t usually shop at Dressbarn? Offer that coupon to a woman looking for a job. Chances are she’ll be looking for a way to save money on her interview clothes. That’s two good deeds in one day–hurray for you, early Spring Cleaning, Dressbarn and Dress for Success!

If Spring wasn’t enough of an incentive to make change in your life, along came Earth Day.

According to earthday2011.org, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson founded the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 in an attempt help people understand the affect they have on their planet and make positive environmental changes within communities. Now over 140 countries have their own Earth Days. Oprah would call this ‘The Power of One.”

Just like we make resolutions for New Year’s, it’s a great idea to make similar resolutions for Earth Day. Instead of pledging to exercise more, pledge to recycle more. Instead of changing the way you eat, change the way you conserve energy in your home.

My family has made some changes to better the planet. We…

• use cloth napkins instead of paper
• created a spot for recycling paper and plastics in the buffet table in our dining room
• use energy-saving lightbulbs
• keep reusable shopping bags in the trunks of our cars for trips to the supermarket
• use homemade cleaners as well as products that are made from natural ingredients
• donate unwanted items to thrift shops

We still have a ways to go. Someday I’d like to try composting and I do my best to shut off lights when I’m not in the room. No one is perfect. But, if we all try to change one habit that can help our planet, Earth will be a healthier place for future generations to live.

What changes wil you make before Earth Day 2012?