What to do when hobbies create clutter

Too many hobbies can lead to a lot of stress producing clutter.  Do you have a wide range of interests?  Chances are that if you do, you often change focus from one to another often and quickly.  While it is good to have variety in our lives, the rapid change and varied hobbies often lead to clutter in our physical environment.  As you take up different projects and acquire materials for them, the old usually get left behind, unfinished and without a home. 

The key to effectively managing your interests and the stuff they produce is to go for quality over quantity.  It is better to have a few hobbies you can manage and keep under control than many that dominate your space.  Additionally, set deadlines for interests that include project outcomes, like a scrapbook, a piece of knitting etc.  The deadline should be realistic.  Some things take months to complete.  If you keep postponing the deadline then you know the project is not important enough to make time for.  Prioritize what is most important to you so you don't end up with many interests and not enough time.   

Keeping your fridge paper free

Is your fridge covered with a collage of recently created summer camp projects and artwork?  Have you been showered with all the papers from your children's wonderful days at camp?  Pretty soon you'll have school art papers to display again and the fridge is full!

Papers on the fridge can make it difficult to get at food and it also creates a look of clutter in the kitchen.  Instead of displaying art and projects in the kitchen, get a bulletin board for each child and put it up in their room.  On it they can can hang all their precious summer projects without taking over the kitchen.  As another option you can cover a sturdy piece of cardboard with colorful or plain fabric and let them decorate it for a personal touch.  Goodbye buried fridge!

De-clutter your desktop

There is only one thing you must know for maintaining a clutter free desktop: Keep only items you use regularly on the surface of your desk.  The desktop is prime real estate and should only be home to things essential to your everyday work, such as laptop, writing tools, phone and maybe a few active files.

If you must keep active paperwork on the desk, put it in file folders for each project and place the folders in some sort of desktop file holder.  Some file holders come with drawers and cubbies for pens, paper and frequently used office supplies.  Others can be open file stands or enclosed file boxes,  ensuring there is a product out there to suit your specific needs. 

Simplicity is best, so try to keep the essentials down to a minimum.  Adding shelves above a desk is a great way to store resources you access regularly, and drawers can be used for items you don't need at your fingertips.  Once again the rule is to only allow items that are essential to your everyday work a place of honor on your desktop.  

Being organized makes life so smooth!

Being organized and living your life in an orderly manner really does make your day so much easier!  I am getting married in a few weeks, and my fiance and I were discussing the things we have left to do.  From almost day one of the wedding preparation he and I used a time line and task list to remember everything we had to do.  

Having this tool was so helpful!  With it we were able to work on every task in a timely manner, always seeing where we were at and knowing where we were going.  This whole process has been more relaxing and less stressful then it would have been if we had left everything to the last minute, or didn't have a clear picture of what needed to be done.

This realization today was a nice, personal example of how approaching life in an organized fashion really does make everything easier.  Of course there are going to be little fires to put out...life always has a way of throwing those my way.  But at least I will be prepared!

Organize power adapters once and for all

My clients have some of the coolest organizational ideas!!  Especially my tech clients, the guys who deal with computers,wires and cables everyday.  I always enjoy learning about solutions other people create to make their lives easier.  This one is a simple but smart gem!

Every house seems to have an abundance of homeless and unclaimed power adapters.  It's easy to hold onto all of them because you are not sure what device belongs to which power adapter.  The last thing you want is to throw a way a power source to a machine you still use!  To avoid this problem it helps to label the adapters in some way.  But why invest in labels that peel off, don't work or cost money? 

My client took a fine tip permanent marker and simply wrote on the body of every adapter.  Brilliant!  He listed the device it powered and the voltage.  I was shocked to see that the red or black permanent marker would show up on black adapters as well.

Once you write on the adapters either store them with the device they belong to or put them all into a small container with the rest of your household utility items, labeing the bin “power adapters”.  Problem solved!

Jump start your tax preparation for 2011

So maybe your 2010 tax filing experience wasn't especially smooth.  Perhaps you found yourself gathering paperwork and data at the last minute, only to miss information and duplicate your efforts a few times.  Did you ever need something, like a letter or receipt to prove a deduction, and then spend precious time searching for it? Though the 2010 tax season is not quite over, now is a good time to get 2011 off to an organized start with some easy steps!

-Create a folder or binder for “Taxes 2011”.  Keep it accessible (but not out on the desk) so you can easily file without extra work

-Make sub categories within it, such as “Charity” for any non profit donations you make, “Medical Expenses” for any health related purchases you can claim, “Tax Documents”  for all end of the year statements you will receive, and/or whatever other headings your information would fall under.  For example, if you are renovating your home and some of the expenses are tax deductible, make a folder for that project

-You can store the paperwork a couple ways: Use a hanging folder labeled “Taxes” as the main file, then use manila folders to organize the interior categories.  If that isn't quite your style use a binder labeled “Taxes” and use dividers with pockets to keep the contents separate.  You could also use a colorful expanding file tote

However you do it, by creating a home for all your tax related paperwork you will save much energy and aggravation when 2011 arrives!

Disconnect to be more productive

We live in a culture and society where distractions abound.  Families sit down to have dinner and the TV is on.  People go to the theater to see a movie and spend a good portion of the movie texting a friend.  We often don't give others our undivided attention, continuing to work on the computer as they speak to us.  We are bombarded by distractions through out the day.

This carries over into every aspect of our life, including organization and managing our time.  Have you ever begun a project, only to have another task or person catch your attention?  When you finally remember what you were doing, all momentum is lost and you have made little progress on the original project.

When you are trying to accomplish a particular task, whether it is organizing your desk or working on a project, be sure to disconnect and limit the distractions you think will come.  Tell others around you that you will be unavailable for a half hour.  Put your phone on silent and do not answer it for a short time. 

Then, choose not to use distractions as a tool to procrastinate.  When a task or project becomes difficult it is easy to look for a diversion, something to take your attention so you feel justified in not continuing your work.  Many people check their email constantly, trying to delay and put off the work they know they need to accomplish.  Make an effort to focus, and do not look for ways to stall projects that are uncomfortable and hard. 

By limiting distractions from the outside and from the inside you will find yourself being much more productive and effective.