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Memorabilia Boxes!

It is very common when organizing to find something you want to keep because it holds a special memory.  However, when trying to decide where it should go, people often get stuck.  They don’t necessarily want to display the item but are really unclear of where it should go!

Solution:  Memorabilia Boxes

This is a great solution because it allows items like old stuff animals, yearbooks, travel memorabilia, things like that to have a home.

You can organize the memorabilia boxes by each person in the family.  Depending on the age of the person will determine how many boxes or bins you may have.

I have a bin that is more designated towards my high school and college years.  I also have a bin designated to my husband and I which contains wedding memorabilia, old cards, pictures etc.

I have a bin for each of my children.  This is a great place to store items from when they were babies and young children.  You can organize it by year of age or by grade in school.

The options are endless when it comes to how to categorize your memorabilia bins, the point is to have a place for these items to go.  No longer the days of wondering what and where the ticket stubs from your favorite concert should go!

You can use any kind of organizing bin, clear or solid, depending on preference.  I do recommend labeling the bins, so you are not wasting time opening them up and figuring out who’s who.  You could even color code the bins to recognize which one belongs to whom.

Knowing you have a system will make organizing a lot easier!

Happy Organizing!

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Ep 53: Organizing around what matters most

Getting organized is about more than just putting things in their place. It’s about having a deep understanding of the things you do every day, how you do them, and the tools you need to get them done. This week on Taking Control, Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright talk about the importance of starting with what matters most to you in every organizing project, with tips and tools you can put in to action today.

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Dealing with Procrastination

We all procrastinate!

We wait until the last minute to do anything, no matter how large or small the task.  Procrastination can come from doing a daily household task like loading the dishwasher… Have you ever waited so long to unload the dishwasher that by the time you did it, you had to immediately run it again. Or waited to put a report together and found yourself up all night just to get it turned in on time!

Some people work well under pressure, but for most of us it causes a lot of stress and anxiety.  Stress that could technically be prevented if we had just done what we needed to do, when we needed to do it!

If you find yourself in this situation and you know you are procrastinating….

  • Do your least favorite task first and then follow it up with a more desirable task.  Better yet, set up a reward system!  This is a great way to motivate yourself. You will be more likely to do the task if you know something good will be waiting for you!  Maybe it’s a 15 minute break to call a friend or if it’s a big project, treat yourself to your favorite coffee.
  • Think Small!  Sometimes what stops us from starting a project is we are looking at the project as a whole.  To organize your garage in a weekend is overwhelming, however just cleaning one shelf isn’t so bad.  Break your big projects down into smaller ones, it really makes a difference!
  • Sometimes once you start a project you can gain enough momentum to keep going.  The point is to start.  Set a timer and work on a project for 15 minutes.  Pretty soon 15 minutes a day adds up and you just made substantial progress.  You want to keep moving forward and every little bit counts!

Happy Organizing!

 

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Ep 52: Surviving repetitive tasks and the ADD Mind

If you’re living with ADD, you understand the double-edged sword your own mind represents. While you might be able to channel your energy into hyper-focus on specific projects, when it comes to repetitive tasks like laundry, dishes, groceries… sometimes things just don’t get done. This week on Taking Control, Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright talk about the obstacles to repetitive tasks and how the ADD mind can muscle through with a few sound strategies.

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ADD Friendly Tips To Deal With Clutter!

Getting organized is a challenge for a lot of people, and this is especially true for my ADD/ADHD clients.  They know what they need to do, they want to do it, but so many other things get in the way.  It causes stress in many aspects of their lives.

I have put together a few ADD Friendly Tips to conquer your clutter…. You may not be able to implement all of them at once, and you may find some ideas work better for you than others.  That is OK… this is a work in progress… all I ask is you try!  If you want to change to happen, you have to be willing to try!

A few tips to consider when conquering your clutter:

Less is More – First thing’s first, when you are trying to clear clutter, you must first eliminate!  When you have less, it’s much easier to stay organized.  You don’t want to try and get organized without taking the time to go through your home and office and really evaluate what you need.  Keep only the things that have value to you. I suggest you tackle one small area at a time. You will see faster progress, which will motivate you to keep going.  It also takes away the overwhelm when you know you are only working one small space and not the whole house.

Purchase with Purpose – Think before you buy, and when you do buy, decide where the item will go in your home.  Every item needs to have a permanent home.  Place a note in your wallet as a reminder, place it in front of your debit or credit card.  Think before you buy. When bringing something new in the home, take something out.  This is often called the “In and Out” rule.  It will help eliminate accumulating too much stuff.

Make the Homes Convenient and Easy – If you make your filing system too complicated, you will never file. If your kitchen is set up in a way that it is inconvenient to put pots and pans away, it won’t happen, and if it does happen it will not have any order to it.  It’s important to organize your belongings the way you use them and in the easiest way.  Even if doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world, it needs to make sense to you.

Organize Just Enough – This is so important for the ADDer…. Don’t strive for perfection.  Set up a system that works good enough for you.  The goal is to be able to find what you need when you need it.  This can be in the form of a pile, it does not have to be in a perfect labeled box or bin.  When things get lost, which they will, take note of it, and build a system around it.  Awareness is the first step towards change!

Happy Organizing!

 

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