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Mother’s Day Gifts – Organization Style

May 2, 2013 · by Organizedisland · 14 Comments

Mother’s Day is just about a week away, so today I am sharing some gift ideas that will help that special woman in your life stay organized. Here are some relatively inexpensive gift ideas that will help with organization. They make great gifts for friends that want to be more organized.

Make up Organizer – This is great for many women. A place to keep all the make up neatly stored, off of the counter.

Jewelry Organizer – There are so many great types of these: jewelry box, hanging organizers and dresser-top hangers come in a lot of different styles. They can be found at department and discount stores. This one has lots of little compartments to keep it all organized.

Travel bags – These are from ebags and are great for the traveler. They keep the clothing and accessories organized, while allowing the fabric to breathe. They come in different colored and patterned sets and can also be used for electronic, medication and souvenir storage.

Sewing Organizer – This is from JoAnn’s fabrics and is the cutest thing ever. I like that it is easy to transport too, so supplies can be moved from room to room or elsewhere for crafting parties, etc.

Desk Organizer – There are so many cute desk organizers that are available in office supply and craft stores. I use these in many rooms in my house and they really work.

Gardening kit – This can be put together simply with some gloves, garden utensils, seeds and a bird feeder. What is nice is that the container can be used to house the tools when not in use.

Budget System Wallet – I first saw this wallet from Sharon’s site at Midlife Mom Musings.It is from Savvy Cents and has several different money compartments and comes with little labels so you can keep your budget system going. So if you are using the envelope system or want to keep your weekly budget cash separate, it is the perfect solution. I think this is great for teens too as they learn to start budgeting.

Can you think of other gifts for Moms that would help them stay organized?

Filed Under: Entertaining & Celebrations, Gift Ideas, Home Organization · Tagged: gift ideas, gifts, gifts to help mom organize, gifts to help organize, Mothers' Day, Mothers' day gift ideas, organize, organizing

Ten Tools for Organization

April 17, 2013 · by Organizedisland · 34 Comments

Today I am sharing with you my favorite tools for organizing my life. These are things I use in many ways so I am sharing my top ten items and some ways they help me organize.

1. Label Maker- Back in the day (I can’t believe I am saying that but it’s true), they had label makers that were strips of plastic and using a spinning dial, letters were punched into the film, and came out raised. At the time, it was a pretty cool gadget, but it only came in one font and took a while with the dial. Now these wonderful label maker come in all kinds of fonts and styles that make labeling folders and boxes a breeze. They are also great for labeling shelves, personal items and drawers.

2. Sticky Notes – I use these every day to jot down notes, ideas and reminders. They are also great because they are color coded and are moveable. The tiny ones are great to bookmark articles, recipes and notes.

3. Binders – You have heard me mention my household binder before, but I also use binders for my blog, my parents health information, school information, travel and recipes. Binders are a wonderful way to organize information that needs to be readily available.

4. Folders – File folders are great for information that does not need to be within arms reach, but needs to be accessed at different times. They are also great for holding receipts, statements and tax information. I love the beautiful array of styles that they come in as well.

5. Storage Caddies – I have several of these in different areas of my home. Besides my household command center, I use them for crafts, pens, stationery and note cards.

6. Plastic Zippered Storage Bags – These are so useful for so much beyond food. They are great for travel, craft supplies, appliance accessories and souvenirs.

7. Photo and Shoe Boxes – I use shoe and photo boxes for gift baskets, organizing supplies and photos.

8. Smart Phone – Possibly the greatest invention in my lifetime (after the laptop computer) has allowed me to keep my to do lists, grocery lists, contact information, photos and notes all in one place. Honestly, how did we do it before these?

9. Index Cards – These are a great way to sort and log information. I use mine for organizing my blog contacts, recipes, cleaning schedules and as storage inventory logs.

10. Color Markers/Highlighters – I love color so I often write in different colors so that I can find my notes quickly. I love markers and tend to have more than I need, but I use them a lot.

Do you use these items? What is your favorite organization tool?

Filed Under: Home Organization, Planning Organization · Tagged: best organization tools, Favorite organizing tools, office supplies, organizing, tools for organization, tools to declutter, top ten organizing tools

Organizing Bill Paying

January 8, 2013 · by Organizedisland · 33 Comments

With each new year, while I do not make resolutions, I do examine my goals and that involves a look at our budget. It helps me to see where I stand with my goals and to visualize where we are financially, compared to the previous year. Now, budgeting is not nearly as fun as spending is, but it is more important if you want to save.

Today, I am sharing my method of bill paying which only takes a few minutes each month.

Get Rid of Excess Paper – I open the bills when I receive them. If there is a discrepancy or something strange going on, I want to know right away. A quick glance at a bill and then I put it in a safe place in my kitchen. As I put the bill away, I keep the bills in the order of due date, with the most urgent in front. I toss out all the additional advertisement mailings that come with the bill into the recycling bin, so I do not have to touch those papers again.
Set Reminder – I have a reminder set up on my phone to pay bills for the month. This way, just because I put the bills away, I will not forget about them, even if I want to. I pay bills twice a month because that is how we best manage the payments. Most bills I pay online and others get paid by check. By scheduling a reminder, it avoids me having to incur a late payment.
Paying On Time – On the day I pay the majority of my bills, I go online to use my bank’s online service. If you have not tried online banking yet, let me tell you that it really saves time and keeps a record of your payments very accessible. You can schedule bills in advance so that you do not incur a late charge. If your bank does not offer online bill paying, many utility and department store companies do. I still pay some bills by check because the payee does not have online banking set up and some bills (like tax bills), I like to keep a photo record of the cancelled check. When I pay a bill, I stamp it with a paid stamp. There is just something satisfying about stamping that bill (some with more force than others) and seeing the word “paid”. Of course you could have a stamp made up saying something else fun to get some joy out of it. (I’ll leave you to your creativity here.)

File – I file the current month’s paid bills in the Current Bills section of my household binder. I do not separate them by company, because I have a record of paid bills online. I used to keep all the old bills in files, but that quickly became clutter. By the way, I keep stamps in this binder for the bills I mail so that they are handy.

Save - this when I move money into my savings. I feel is the best time to move the money and treat it like it is another bill. Even if it is not as much as I would like, it is the perfect time to add to savings.
Review - Now, it is easy to stop here, but there is one more step that I take about every six months. I review the bills we paid for the previous months to look for spikes and to reevaluate what is being spent. Some companies will add little charges. Be sure to review all your charges and determine if you can eliminate them or the bill altogether.

Now bill paying is personal and this is just the way that works for me. Do you do something different or similar? If you had a stamp, what would you have written on it as you paid the bills (keep it family friendly please)? I’m linking this up at designdininganddiapers.

Filed Under: Home Budgeting, Home Management, Home Organization, Planning Organization, Time Saver Tip · Tagged: bill paying, bill paying system, how to avoid paying bills late, making bill paying more pleasant, online bill pay, organizing, organizing bill paying, pay bill online

Organizing Holiday Cards

December 27, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 20 Comments

One of my favorite things this time of year is to receive all the holiday cards that come from friends and family. Every year, I like to save the most recent year’s photos as a reminder of those I do not see very often. Over the years, I have used different methods to store these photos so I thought I would share a few that I have used in the past.

1) Put them all of the cards in a small photo album. First I trim the photo from the card and then insert the photo into a small photo book. It also makes a nice prayer book.

2) Cut the photos of the cards with a circle punch and create a family tree. When my kids were smaller, I would do this to help them remember those relatives they did not see very often.

3) Take a photo of each card and upload them to a digital picture frame. It is a great way to enjoy the photos all year long. You can also create an electronic photo album by year on your computer.

4) Take a photo of each card and upload it to your contacts on your smart phone.

5) Put the cards you received this year in an envelope or file. Keep them near your address book or contact list. Keep by family each year, or just keep the most recent year.

Do you keep photo cards you receive? What do you do with your photo cards?

Filed Under: Entertaining & Celebrations, Home Organization, Winter · Tagged: how to organize photos, organizing, organizing Christmas cards, photo greeting cards, what to do with Christmas cards

Organizing Food Spices

November 19, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 22 Comments

A few weeks ago I organized my kitchen spices in preparation for the cooking and baking I am going to be doing for the holidays. I wanted to share with you how I organized my spices in my kitchen.

The first thing I did was pull all of the spices together to see which ones were too old. Most spices last a couple of years, but let me tell you, two years goes by quick. I toss out the old spices and make a list of what I need to purchase the next time I am at the store. Then I clean off the spice jars with a damp cloth because sometimes a bit of grease gets on them when cooking. Now I keep my most used spices (salt, pepper, seasoning salt) separate from my other spices because I keep them handy on my range.

But the other spices are kept in a kitchen drawer that is near the area that I bake and prepare most often, my kitchen island. I use a spice drawer insert to hold the spices in the drawer.

I alphabetize them to make them easy to find. I like that I can see all the spices at once. (Notice that the Chili powder was not where it should have been…this was fixed.)

I also put the measuring spoons in the spice drawer since I often use that with them.

When I buy a spice jar, I note the month and year purchased on the bottom of the container with a permanent marker. The spices have it printed on there, but I find that over time with use, this can fade. I like keeping spices in a drawer because it prevents them from getting splattered when I am cooking and keeps them away from the heat.

Do you organize your spices?

Filed Under: Home Management, Home Organization, Time Saver Tip · Tagged: drawer organization, food spices, kitchen organizers, kitchen spices, organizing, organizing spices, organizing your kitchen, spice rack organization, spices

How to Improve Productivity

September 26, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 83 Comments

As a former productivity analyst and manager, let me tell you that one of the biggest causes of inefficiency is interruptions. (As I wrote this first sentence the phone rang…no kidding!). So today I am sharing a few suggestions that research has shown that can help you be the most productive with your time.

1. Prioritize what you need to do, based on what you are trying to achieve. For example, if one of your goals is to write a paper or blog post, and another goal is to respond to emails in 24 hours, and another is cook dinner, you will have to pick which is more important at this given time. Yes, sometimes you can multi-task, but only if the tasks are relatively simple. If you try to do too many things at once, you can become distracted.

2. Determine how much time to allocate to each task, then schedule blocks of time for each tasks. So if I have 1 hour to do three different tasks, it helps to estimate how long each task will take so that I can plan accordingly. If the three tasks combined will take me 2 hours, something needs to change. It also helps if you can add a little bit more time when estimating your time block, because a little free time can be a welcome gift.

3. Control your environment as much as possible. If you can, do not answer the phone, check your cell or read email when you are focusing on a task. While this may not always be possible, try to eliminate as many distractions as possible. If you are at work and can shut your door or put a Do Not Disturb sign, it can help reduce face to face interruptions.

4. Check your email a handful of times a day. Have your email program sort you emails by sender so that you can read them when you have a necessary block of time. If you check your email constantly, it will distract you from your other tasks. When you are focused on responding to emails, you tend to be more productive in responding. See more email organization tips here.

5. If you are a blogger, consider scheduling some of your Facebook posts and/Twitter posts in advance so that you are not on these programs dozens of times a day. Unless your job is in social media, you probably do not want to be on these platforms more than that, at least until you have accomplished your other tasks.

6. Make sure to set aside time for yourself. If you do not schedule breaks or downtime, it will catch up with you and cause you to be frustrated. Get outside for some fresh air and take in the beauty of the day. Unplug for a while. A clear mind does wonders for productivity.

What is your most frequent interruption?

Filed Under: Blogging, Home Organization, Planning Organization, Productivity · Tagged: improving productivity, increase productivity at home, increasing productivity, organizing, prioritizing, reducing interruptions

Organizing for Health

September 14, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 12 Comments

So today I wanted to share with you how I have set up a few desk supplies. Now I love to have everything in nice hand compartments, but I purposely do not have everything I need close by.

Why, you ask?

Well, while I want to have many things within arms-reach, I purposely keep some supplies across the room. I do this because I spend a lot of time sitting at work during the day and again when I on my computer at home….sometimes for hours at a time.

Did you know that many recent studies have shown that people who are more sedentary have a higher risk of death? This is serious stuff. (If you want to read more about such study, click here.)

So today I encourage you to place some items away from your work area at home or at work so that it forces you to get up and move around. Think about what items you might be able to move to a location across the room or in a different room. I know it may sound silly and maybe a little inefficient, but by doing this, you will not have to think about it, and it will benefit your health.

So that being said, what items have you placed across the room? I care about each and every one of you and hope that you will organize for a healthy life!

Filed Under: Blogging, Home Organization · Tagged: exercise, extended sitting, health tips for bloggers, healthy living, healthy organizing, how to stay healthy, organizing

Shopping for School Supplies

August 6, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 10 Comments

This weekend I was noticing that all the Back To School sales are in progress. Another reminder of how quickly the summer goes by!

Even though my kids now buy their own school supplies, I like to shop several things at these sales for organization at home:

Binders – I love these, they are great for storing and organizing recipes, finances, articles etc. I also use them for to go menus, school, sports and club information, and vacation planning.
Highlighters – I still like to read actual books and use them to highlight business books. They are great for highlighting articles, dates on newsletters, invitations, and calendars.
Binder clips – these are super for sealing chip bags, organizing electronic cords and bill paying.
Pens & Markers – I love to use different color markers in my planner for different activities. These also make great gifts with a journal or notecards, so I like to stock up.
Composition Books – I used these to keep notes on a subject. I have one that I use to log house repairs and another for car maintenance. They also make journals and are nice gifts when decorated.
Flash drives – these I use to keep copies of my digital photos. I like to keep my back up photos on these by season. Some of the inexpensive ones will not hold as much, so I buy several.
Crayons, glue, paints and scissors - these are great to buy now and to make gift baskets for birthdays, holidays and favors. The prices are super low and they always come in handy. These also are ideal items to donate to schools, camps, churches and shelters.

What supplies are you picking up for organizing? I would love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Home Organization, Planning Organization · Tagged: binder organization, organizing, organizing supplies, sales on organizing materials, school supplies

Cleaning Up Mom’s Patio

June 11, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 11 Comments

If you have been following my blog, you know that my parents are up in years and are having trouble keeping things organized (read understatement). This weekend we cleaned up their patio area that had been neglected. To give you an idea of what we did, I have to share with you the before pictures:

My parents met in the late 1930′s and had been children during the depression. At that time in our country, people saved everything that they could get their hands on. Women could not even buy nylon stockings because their components were used for the war effort. So my parents have become a bit like hoarders. I don’t know if you can make it out, but there are 3 weed wackers in the photo. My parents do not have a big yard and Dad has not used a weed wacker in months.

As we went through all the items in their patio, we grouped them by the following:

Good condition – save or donate if not needed or a spare
Fair condition – restore and reuse or donate
Bad Condition – not really usable, not restorable, dispose
Trash – dispose

Of course my parents did not want to part with anything tht was usable, so we cleaned the items up and replaced them. We also talked to them about the need to purge and simplify. We had 7 bags of trash and a couple of large items for the trash. This is how it looked after: