June 2012 Organizing Checklist by Maria Gracia http://www.getorganizednow.com ____ Jun 1 Do you have a big job that requires getting rid of large items? Hire a hauling service to take it away. It is so much easier to have someone haul it off for you than to try to take care of disposing of items yourself. ____ Jun 2 Get rid of your usable items. Donate to your favorite charity, advertise of freecycle, sell on Craig's List, or have a garage sale. The important thing is to reduce the clutter. When you can help someone else in the process, it's even better. ____ Jun 3 Get rid of toxic materials responsibly. In many areas, municipalities will have toxic waste days where you can bring toxic wastes like paint, pesticides, motor oil, cleaners, etc. and dispose of them safely and responsibly. Check with your local waste removal company or city officials. ____ Jun 4 Get creative with gift wrap. Why buy expensive wrapping paper when we have so many creative ways to use what we have. Use newsprint and tie it up with a raffia bow, or use potatoes and food coloring to make stamps to decorate craft paper. ____ Jun 5 Weed out old medications. Don't flush them unless the label specifically instructs you to do so. Contact your city’s trash collectors for advice as some communities have ‘Take Back’ programs where you bring unused medications to a specific place to be disposed. Otherwise, remove the medicine from its original container, mix it into coffee grounds or kitty litter, put it in a sealable bag so it doesn’t leak, and finally toss them in your trash can. (Note: If you have young children, be sure they have no access to the medication.) ____ Jun 6 Repurpose what you already have. Food storage containers can be used to store makeup, small office supplies, and small toys. Decorate with leftover wallpaper or wrapping paper to hold craft supplies. ____ Jun 7 Do one thing! Ask yourself, what one physical thing can I do. Then do it immediately. Pay that bill, file that paperwork, put the newspapers into the recycling bin. Once you do that one thing, chances are you'll be motivated to do one more, and one more.. ____ Jun 8 Make use of you high energy times. Are you a morning person? Schedule your most demanding chores/tasks for morning. Are you a night person? Schedule yours for night. When your energy level is at its highest, you will be at your most efficient. ____ Jun 9 Keep only one calendar for planning. Too much can go missing when it isn't in one place. Keeping one calendar for the whole family ensures that fewer obligations are missed due to ineffective scheduling. ____ Jun 10 Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. Group things together in a way that makes sense. Like items done together or in succession are much more likely to get done. When running here and there and back and forth, we aren't using our time and energy most efficiently. So, like you group errands to save gas, group tasks to save energy. ------------------------ Want tons of great ideas for getting organized at home and in the office? Check out my new books, Finally Organized, Finally Free for the Home and Finally Organized, Finally Free for the Office. Now available in both print and digital PDF format. Visit: http://www.getorganizednow.com/newbook.html ------------------------ ____ Jun 11 Don't try to do it all at once. Do quick bursts of organizing throughout the day. A quick pick it up and put it away session in the morning and in the evening keeps things tidy. With just ten minutes at a time, you can get a lot done throughout the day and you don't end up with a monumental task that you have to tackle all at once. ____ Jun 12 Set a timer. Knowing you have a limited amount of time can push you to work more efficiently, and take fewer wasted steps. A timer can also help you get to appointments on time. Set the timer on your oven or microwave to go off five minutes before you have to leave. This saves you from checking the clock constantly. ____ Jun 13 Check the gutters for debris. Many of us think of this as a spring or fall job, but the truth is that debris can get caught up in gutters throughout the year. Make it a regular chore to check those gutters and prevent water damage before it starts. ____ Jun 14 Avoid household accidents with a few helpful tips. Fasten throw rug edges so that no one trips over them. Lock away poisonous items where children can't reach them. ____ Jun 15 Help keep your home more burglar-proof by adopting a few simple tips. Lock you doors and windows at night and when you aren't home. Keep expensive items out of view of windows and doors. Let neighbors and local police know when you are going out of town. Have newspaper and mail delivery suspended while you are gone. ____ Jun 16 Push the reset button. We can sometimes get overwhelmed in the middle of a task or project. Sometimes the simple act of stepping back can make a big difference in our mindset so we can accomplish the task. ____ Jun 17 Create a kitchen annex. Store seldom used appliances and serving pieces together in a closet. If you don't use it regularly it shouldn't take up valuable real estate in the kitchen. They'll still be there when you need them, but they won't be taking up valuable, needed space. ____ Jun 18 Eliminate superficial clutter. Do a very rapid- fire sort to get started on an organizing project. Give yourself time to look only long enough to decide if it's Trash or Keep. The bigger the trash pile, the less work you're going to have going through the keep pile. ____ Jun 19 Manage your money. Some simple things to keep on top of your finances are balancing your checkbook, paying a couple of bills each evening, reconciling your credit card statement, reviewing that bank statement for errors and filing your weekly receipts. These simple tasks give you a good view of your finances. ____ Jun 20 Quick cleaning can eliminate the need for large blocks of time being taken up by cleaning. In the morning after your shower, rinse down the shower and use a squeegee to cut down on spotting. You can spritz with a shower cleaning spray to help cut down on the need for scrubbing. Use a cloth with a disinfectant to wipe down the sink, counter, and another for the toilet. These quick cleanings daily keep things clean without all the hard work. ------------------------ Keeping on top of everything going on in your life is easy, when you have the Get Organized Now! Easy Organizer. Now available in both print and digital PDF format. Visit: http://www.getorganizednow.com/ezorganizer.html ------------------------ ____ Jun 21 Simplify mornings. Let's face it, the rush to get out the door is a tough one. Help simplify it by setting out clothes the night before for everyone, making lunches after dinner and getting all papers signed and into backpacks, briefcases, etc. the night before. Fewer things to deal with in the morning rush. ____ Jun 22 Use an external hard drive to back up items on your computer. It is never a question of if your computer will fail, only a matter of when it will fail. Save yourself the expense and hassle of trying to recover data by doing regular backups. If you don't want the hardware, there are online backups available. ____ Jun 23 Check your desk drawer for dried up pens, markers and highlighters. Clean the trash off of your desk and create a serene workspace that is conducive to creativity and productivity. ____ Jun 24 Give your closet a thinning by eliminating empty hangers, taking the pile of dry cleaning to the cleaners, and sorting through your clothing to make sure that you are actually using what you have in the closet. Donate those items you aren't using. ____ Jun 25 Gather up the pile of borrowed items that need to be returned; books to the library, videos to the video store, etc. ------------------------ Get all your papers organized once and for all, in an organized (find-anything-you-need-in-a-second) filing system. You'll be the envy of your friends! Discover: My Oh-So-Organized Filing System. Visit: http://www.getorganizednow.com/filing.html ------------------------ ____ Jun 26 Clean out your old makeup in your cosmetic drawer. There are items that should be replaced frequently, such as mascara. It should be replaced every 3 months for safety sake. ____ Jun 27 Start a box for donated items in your closet. This way as you decide to donate something, you will already have a place for it to go. As soon as a charity calls for donations, you will be ready. ____ Jun 28 Think vertical when it comes to storage. There is a finite amount of floor space in every home so think about going vertical with your storage. Book shelves and storage units are great for organizing and have a very small footprint. ____ Jun 29 Time your tasks. Sometimes we avoid tasks because we believe they will take too long. The best way to know for sure how long something takes is to time it while you do it. For instance, by timing my making of the bed, I realized that it only took 4 minutes. Most people can do 4 minutes every morning. ____ Jun 30 Clean out the fridge and make room for all that wonderful produce available at a local farmer's market. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now! http://www.getorganizednow.com FREE Idea-Pak and E-zine filled with tips, ideas, articles and more to help you organize your home, your office and your life at the Get Organized Now! Web site! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS ARE FREE TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY AS LONG AS THE BYLINE REMAINS INTACT.