Here are some easy sorting projects that can be tackled 30 minutes or less each that will help you regain control of some of your spaces.

1. Organize under your kitchen and/or bathroom sink. Appropriately dispose of products you no longer use. Organize the remaining products by task.
2. Unify your utensils by pitching broken, unused or damaged gadgets. Wipe out the drawer and organize in a tray or use a container on the counter top.
3. De-junk one drawer by empty all the contents then, sort through it to decide what stays and what goes. Use a drawer tray to organize what stays or recycle other containers already in the house (think empty check boxes or pill bottles to hold small items).
4. Look through your magazine pile and toss what you have already read or save only the articles that you want to read by tearing them out. Bear in mind that much can be found online. Use a magazine holder to store what remains. Once filled. Sort and purge again.
5. Use attractive bowls or containers to keep counter tops or dressers clear. Use them for change/wallets, keys or for jewelry.
6.  Sort your linen closet. Keep only a maximum of three sheet sets per bed. Use the pillowcase to store the flat and fitted sheet inside.
7. Attack your toiletry storage. Toss anything expired. Sort what is left in categories. Then store the remaining items by creating a shelf for first-aid products, one for beauty maintenance items (think razors, shaving cream or moisturizers) and make a shelf for supplies such as soap, shampoo and conditioner. Use clearly labeled containers to maintain order.
8. Gather all the children’s books and stuffed animals. Corral them in a storage bin or use a storage ottoman which is pretty and functional.

Even picking one of these project/areas can lighten your space. Which one will it be?

Many times we have clutter and cluttered entrances because we aren’t using our closets well.

Here are some tips for getting your closets to work for you:
o Get rid of little used outerwear.
o Use plastic bins on the shelf to store hats, gloves and scarves or use a shoe caddy hung on the back of the door.
o Add a rack on the floor for shoes and boots.
o Move the sports equipment and vacuum to another spot. If you can’t, designate a zone for it in the closet.

Using the following out-of-the-closet storage solutions to create more room:
o Store off-season items else where and schedule a date in your calendar to rotate.
o Get a pretty container for umbrellas and keep them nicely contained in the entryway.
o Place a coat tree or a wall-mounted rack in the hall to handle everyday outerwear.
o Keep a cubby system under a bench for shoes.

By keeping only the essentials in the closet and using appropriate storage containers, you can get your closets to work for you. If you have an organized and clutter-free closet you will use it and not just dump things in the entryway.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep on track with your goals.

Here are tips to help make goals stick:

• When you are working on a new healthy habit create prompts for goal implementation. For example if you want to exercise first thing in the morning lay out your exercise clothes the night before right next to your bed so you can put them on as soon as you get up. Or if flossing your teeth daily is your goal pull out the floss when you pull out your toothbrush.
• While having SMART goals is important to success so is creating goals in the present tense to help you visualize the goal as already done. For example I wear a size eight versus I will lose 20 pounds or I am cigarette free versus I will stop smoking.
• Set up rewards to build some pleasure into the actual activity. For example tape your favorite TV show and watch it while exercising so you can create a habit that sticks.

Creating prompts, setting up rewards and establishing goals in the present tense will aid with goal implementation and assist in creating healthy habits that stick. Give one of these tips a try…you can make your goals a reality.

A friend told me about Pinterest because she thought I would love the concept as a clutter busting life coach. And I do.

Wikipedia gives a great description of Pinterest and its uses.

While Pinterest’s mission is to “connect everyone in the world throuh the ‘things’ they find interesting”, as a life coach I think Pinterest is a great clutter busting tool.

How many times do you cut out an article or photo from a maganize to save for ideas or planning? How many piles of papers or folders do you have with resources just sitting around on tabletops or in file cabinets? Do you ever look at them again? Or are they just there for some day soon?
What I love is that you can generally categorize Pinboards for organization and for discovery by others. What a great way to share ideas without adding more paper clutter.

 Of course there is “pin etiquette” that you should use when using Pinterest such as being respectful, pinning useful items, being authentic and crediting your sources especially with a link back to the original source.

I am hooked. You may want to check it out the Pinterest website.

Don’t let emails disrupt your day and steal your time.

Here are some techniques you can use to manage emails:

• When sending emails:
  o Use brief but detailed subject lines. Don’t leave it blank. Leaving the subject line blank makes it difficult to file or search not only for the recipients sake but yours too.
  o Keep messages short and simple. Important information should go in the first paragraph.
  o Create lists with groups of addresses especially if you send message to the same bunch of people frequently.
  o Don’t abuse email by forwarding every joke.
• Receiving emails:
  o Set aside certain times of the day to answer email so it doesn’t become a distraction. You can set rules to color code emails from important people so you can handle promptly.
  o Use the spam files and rules functions. You can set rules to automatically file email messages from selected addresses in a particular folder.
  o Ask people who respond to all to kindly stop doing so needlessly.
• Email oorganization:
  o Use folders and sub-folders.
  o Organize by sender, subject matter, project or any combination that makes sense to you.
  o Empty your delete folder regularly or set it up to do so automatically.

Set up some project time now to clean out your emails and then schedule time weekly (or on a regular basis) to keep on top of email organization.

By using these techniques and with scheduled routine maintenance you can be in control of your email.

With electronic files you are free to create a system that works for you but that freedom can be a challenge. One challenge is that electronic files are different because we aren’t handling them, they are virtual. So how do you go about bringing your hard drive to order?

Here are some tips:

• Back up your data. How often is based on how critical your data is and how much work it would take you to recreate things from scratch.
• Set up broad category folders in “my documents” or on your hard drive (in MAC OS).
• Set up subfolders in each category. For example, medical documents by person or medical condition.
• Use the computer’s sort function. For example, if you put a space or “AAA” in front of the name of the most frequently used folders they will be at the top of the alphabetical list and easy to locate.
• Use meaningful names for your documents and use names less than 15 characters as they are easier to understand at a glance.
• Keep refining your system so it works better and better.
• Avoid duplicate folders to avoid confusion.
• Reserve your desktop for items that need immediate action. When done working with the file or project then move it to the proper folder.

Don’t’ let your electronic files overwhelm you. Weekly care and maintenance will keep things in order. Get a handle on them so you’ll save time in the future.

So how do you measure success? When is done done?

I started my journey a year ago…getting rid of the clutter from my basement (yes, even the clutter coach has to get rid of clutter every once in a while). It was a personal journey that I thought I would share with my readers and clients. A lot has gotten done:

o My disaster box is updated.
o I have tossed old papers and files no longer needed.
o I have a pile of boxes ready for the garage sale in June.
o I have all my seasonal decorations in one location now and everything is put away and in place.

Is the basement ”finished”? I would say no, but it is close to done. It should be where I envisioned it to be done in the next few weeks (I am getting things ready for a new garage sale date and I am making some final decisions on a few storage issues). It will then be ready for my husband to take over to “finish” the basement literally by putting up walls and placing flooring.

Here’s what I have learned in my year-long cutter busting journey.

o Seek help and/or enlist a buddy. It makes any job easier.
o Write your plan down. It gets the clutter out of your mind.
o Making the commitment out loud to someone else keeps you going.
o Adjust your goals. Sometimes you have to take a detour and that is okay.
o Prioritize your time. You only have 24 hours in a day. When you make something a priority, you will find the time for it.
o Set reasonable expectations. Don’t judge your progress by others.
o Each journey is individualized. See above.
o It is easier to coach my clients about clutter since I too have gone through the journey. I have real life experience about dealing with clutter.
o Life continuously teaches us lessons if we open ourselves up to them.

So what will be my next journey?

Can I support you in your de-cluttering project? For a complimentary 30-minute introductory coaching session contact me.

During National Nutrition Month ® try something new on your plate.

My colleague has some great information about quinoa (keen-wa) on her website (www.nourishyourlife.com) .

If you have never tried it, I would encourage you to do so. Read about this grain and try one of the recipes she has on her website.

Wow! Spring is in the air… in Michigan, anyway. Even though we had a mild winter, the turn of seasons gives some the itch to ramp up their exercise program. 

Before you go full steam ahead, here is some practical information on eating and exercise that you can use from a fellow coach on http://nourishingathletes.com.

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