Feeling Overwhelmed?

Let's admit we can't do it all, no one can. Even if from the outside it looks like someone is doing it all they're not, they are giving up something, maybe its sleep, or time to exercise or socialize but they are giving up something.

1. Start by setting priorities and goals. What is most important right now? Pick just 1 or 2 goals for each month; if the goals are "big picture" goals then 2 or 3 per year may be all you take on. If you complete them you can always add more later. Set yourself up to succeed by being realistic.

2. Make a list of what you want to accomplish. Getting things out of your head and putting them on paper can make the list seem so much more doable.

3. Number the items on that list in order of priority. Now rank them in order of urgency. Something can be a priority but not urgent. For example painting your kitchen may be a top priority but it's not urgent. However, if you don't get that permission slip filled out and sent back to school your child won't be allowed to go on the field trip next week, that's urgent.

4. Focus on the tasks needed to accomplish your most important and urgent goals. When ever you are faced with a choice about what task you should work on next ask yourself is this helping me
accomplish my goal? If the answer is no don't do that task.

5. Be realistic about how long it takes, from start to finish, to accomplish a task. Most of us assume that tasks take much less time than they actually do. If the task involves leaving your home calculate the drive time into the time to accomplish the task. A simple rule to follow is whatever you think a task will take, double it. That way you won't add too many tasks to your calendar and you'll feel less stressed. If you finish earlier than expected you can relax or start working on another task.

6. Stop multitasking; it's been proven to be an inefficient and less productive way to work and it will only lead you to feeling more overwhelmed.

7. Its ok to take small steps; a little progress is still progress. If the job seems too big and you're dreading it set a timer and work on the task for 30 minutes then take a break. If you feel up to it go back for another 30 minutes, if not go back to it another day.

8. Know when you are at your best. Are you a morning person? Then tackle the job you consider most difficult, tedious or requires creativity in the morning. You will be more productive and produce better quality work. Save the work that comes easy to you and requires less brain power for when you're not at your best.

9. If you are serious about not feeling burned out and overwhelmed consider eliminating things from your to do list. Either delegate or delete the task all together.

Remember, the more you add to your list, the more overwhelmed you will feel. Give these tips a try; soon you'll feel you have the control you thought you'd lost .

Organizing Your Emergency Plans

Knowing what to do during an emergency is an important part of being prepared and may make all the difference when seconds count!

Be informed - There are important differences among potential emergencies that will impact the decisions you make and the actions you take. Learn more about the potential emergencies that could happen where you live and the appropriate way to respond to them.

Emergency Contact Information - Choose one relative or friend that family members will contact in an emergency. It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members. Be sure every member of your family knows the contact's phone number and e-mail address and enter this information in everyone's cell phone under the name "ICE" (In Case of Emergency). Have a communication Plan. Who contacts whom? Remember to include schools, daycare centers, work, senior centers in your plan.

Have a family emergency evacuation plan - There may be conditions where you will decide to get away, or you are ordered to leave. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family if you think ahead and communicate with others in advance. Become familiar with alternate routes and other means of transportation out of your area. Choose several destinations in different directions so you have options in an emergency. If time allows call or email the "out-of-state" contact in your family communications plan. Tell them where you are going. Leave a note telling others when you left and where you are going. Know the location of shelters in your area.

Plan how you will assemble your family - where will your family meet if you are separated when the emergency occurs? Choose places both within and outside of your immediate neighborhood or town.

In case of a fire - Review escape routes with your family. Practice escaping from each room during daylight hours and at night. Make sure windows are not nailed or painted shut. Make sure security gratings on windows have a fire safety opening feature so they can be easily opened from the inside. Consider escape ladders if your residence has more than one level. Teach family members to stay low to the floor when escaping from a fire.

Important Family Documents - Ensure that you have important family documents in one place so you can take them with you in an emergency.

Remember your pet - Whether you decide to stay put in an emergency or evacuate to a safer location, you will need to make plans in advance for your pets. Assembling an animal emergency supply kit and developing a pet care buddy system. If you must evacuate take your pets with you if possible. However, if you are going to a public shelter understand that animals may not be allowed inside. Plan in advance for shelter alternatives that will work for both you and your pets.

Emergency supply kit - Only you know what supplies your family needs but here is an example of commonly used supplies. Battery powered or hand crank radio & clock, cell phone & charger (preferably solar types), spare set of car keys, flashlight and extra batteries, matches in awaterproof container, small tools, wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, whistle to signal for help, fire extinguisher, paper, pencils, scissors, first aid kit, emergency car kit, dust mask, paper towels and anything else you can anticipate your family needing. Make a copy of prescription labels including pharmacy and doctors phone numbers. Make a list of prescription medicines including dosage, treatment and allergy information. Pack personal need items such as eyeglasses, contacts, hearing aid batteries, wheelchair batteries.

Putting together an emergency preparedness plan will take time. I suggest breaking it down into steps. Put one of the above tips into place each weekend until you have a complete plan in place. Hopefully you will be well prepared to keep you and your family safe yet never need any of it.

Most of these tips were taken from Homeland Security website and American Red Cross website. I've provided links for your convenience. Homeland Security www.ready.gov. American Red www.redcross.org.
Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Organizing Photos

Perfection is not your friend when it comes to organizing photos. People avoid organizing their photos because their goal of gathering every photo ever taken, putting them in chronological order then creating perfectly organized albums seems impossible to achieve so they put it off. In the mean time the collection of pictures grows and the task becomes more and more overwhelming.

Don't let perfection paralyze you. Don't worry about chronological order. The best advice I can give you is to just dig in! The first step is to get some of the developed pictures into albums and the digital pictures into files that make sense for retrieval. Remember the reason you took pictures was to enjoy looking at them. Getting them into albums will allow you to enjoy them. If you'd like to scrapbook them or frame them in the future they'll already be organized.

Let's begin.

• Grab the most accessible photos or the first digital file you come across.

• Throw away or delete those that are unflattering, blurry, have nothing that's meaningful in the picture or just a bad picture. Yes, it's ok to throw pictures away. Ask yourself this - is that picture worth your time to organize and place in an album and would you enjoy looking at it in the future? If the answers to these questions are no then throw it out.

• If your photos are developed and you'd eventually like to have your pictures in chronological order the simplest thing to do is fill a 3 ring binder/ photo album with photo pages. Then start filing the pages with your pictures. These albums allow you to move the pictures around without taking them out of the pages.

• Label the pictures. Using a photo labeling pencil, which won't bleed, smear or fade, write what you know about the picture on the back such as names of those pictured including last name, the date or approximate date the picture was taken, the location and the occasion. If you use photo pages that provide space for journaling you will not need to write on the back of the photo.

• If you don't intend on developing your pictures it's very important to label your digital pictures with as much detail as possible. This will help you locate a picture when you need it. Be sure that every picture in one file belongs there.

• If you upload your pictures to sites like Snapfish, shutterfly, flickr, or Costco Photo center be aware that some sites will eventually delete your pictures if your account has been dormant for a long period of time.

• There is an alternative to chronologically organizing your photos. Consider organizing by event or activity. This method doesn't require you remember the year the photo was taken. If your child played baseball, soccer or danced for several years put all the pictures of one activity together. It won't matter what year the pictures were taken, it will be fun to see all the action shots and how the child has grown.

Keep these tips in mind when storing pictures:

• Make sure albums or boxes are acid free, lignin free and buffered.

• Use a photo labeling pencil unlike regular pens they won't bleed, smear or fade

I hope you find these organizing tips helpful.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Quick and Easy Organizing Projects.

Below is a list of small organizing projects, categorized by room, that often get forgotten. A cold winter's afternoon is the perfect time to tackle these small projects. Most of these projects will take between 2 hours and an afternoon to complete with the junk drawer being the most time consuming. Won't it be worth the time invested if you can find what you need easily?

BATHROOM
Medicine cabinet - throw out all expired medication or medication you no longer use. Organize what's left by categories, cold meds, pain meds, first aid etc. See the product review section for instruction on how to safely dispose of medication.

Make-up - discard old brushes, eye shadows or blush you don't use, or products you no longer like. Organize like things together, all lipstick, all eye shadow, and all blush etc. There are many products at Bed Bath and Beyond and The Container Store well suited for organizing make up.

Linen closet - eliminate tattered worn sheets, towels and blankets. Most animal shelters or veterinarians offices are happy to get old linens. Put sheet sets together, organizing them according to fabric. Place the linens you use the most at eye level, those you use the least can be on lower shelves.

KITCHEN
Cook books - do you have lots of cookbooks but only use a few? Cookbooks can take up a lot of room; go through them and eliminate the ones you don't use. Got Books and your local library are great places to donate your unwanted cookbooks.

Recipes - do you have lots of recipes you've torn out of magazines but never tried? What is your criteria for a good recipe? Does it have to have only a few common ingredients, ones you always stock, or must it be prepared in less than 1 hour? Go through your stack of recipes and eliminate the ones that don't fit your criteria. Also be realistic, the food may look delicious in the picture but how often do you make soup from scratch and how many soup recipes does one person need? Once you have your favorites make a plan for when you're going to try each one. Once you try the recipe if you don't like it throw it out, if you do like it scan it into your computer or put it in a page protector and into a 3 ring binder that is categorized by appetizer, chicken, beef, dessert etc.

Utensil drawer - you may need 2 spatulas but do you really need 4? Do you ever use that garlic press? If you have a large kitchen with lots of space put the frequently used utensils in one drawer, preferably near the stove, and the infrequently used utensils in another drawer. If your kitchen is small and you do occasionally use the pie server and the garlic press consider placing them in a small bin and storing the bin on an upper shelf in the pantry or in the basement. You can go get this bin on the rare occasion that you need the contents but they won't be in your way daily.

Junk drawer - everyone has at least one. This is the project that will take the most amount of time because many junk drawers have mystery items in them, those small things that you are afraid to throw away but you have no idea what they are or what they belong to. If you haven't cleaned out this drawer in a year or more and you haven't missed that mystery item and no one knows what it is throw it out. Now sort everything by category, pencils, tape, measuring tape, rubber bands etc. If it has to stay in that drawer get small containers so all like things can be kept together. If you're always opening the drawer to grab a pencil the container holding the pencil shouldn't have a cover but if you seldom use rubber bands you may want that container to have a cover. You can take it one step further and label the containers so everyone in the house knows where to put the measuring tape and toothpicks. This will keep the drawer organized for a longer period of time.

If you decide to tackle one of these projects I'd like to know how it went. Please email me with your comments.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Preparing for a Medical Emergency

• Make sure your house is clearly numbered to make it easy for emergency responders to find you. House numbers should be high enough so they will not be covered when there is snow on the ground. You do not want precious moments wasted as the driver searches for your home.

• Have a list of all medication - keep one copy for the person taking the meds and a copy for all care givers; keep these lists up to date including the dosage.

• Medical insurance cards - most of us keep this in our wallet but in an emergency would a caregiver know where to find it? Make a copy, front and back, for all caregivers or make them aware of where a copy can be found.

• Living Will or Health Care Proxy. After asking for the list of medication this was the next thing the emergency room physician asked me - does she have a Living Will? No matter your age, young or old, you should have a Living Will. This will save your family the torment of making decisions for you and make it easy for the heath care professionals to follow your wishes. Be sure your caregivers know where to find this document. Do not keep the only copy in a bank safety deposit box. Someone will need to present this to a healthcare provider.

• A Health Care Power of Attorney is a document that allows you to designate a person (an "Agent") who will have the authority to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unconscious, mentally incompetent, or otherwise unable to make such decisions. Would it make sense for you to have such a document?

• Last Will and Testament. Do you have one? Do your relatives know where it is and do you know where your loved ones Wills are? Although this is not a subject anyone enjoys talking about it is so much easier to deal with this subject when all parties are calm and of sound mind.

• Consider putting together an "emergency kit", include Doctors phone numbers, a list of medication, copies of insurance cards, a list of any known allergies, phone numbers of relatives, legal documents and anything else you think would be helpful. Tell all caregivers where to find this kit

I am not an attorney nor am I qualified to give legal advice so please if you decide you could benefit from obtaining any of these legal documents see an attorney.

My mom had done everything possible to get her affairs in order years ago so that when the time came it would be easier on her children. I consider that to be her final gift to us and for that I am gratefu

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Organizing Holiday Decorations

If you want the decorating process to be easy next year you must pay close attention to how you put decorations away this year.

• Schedule time to undecorated. Rushing thru the process is a common cause for messy piles of disorganized and broken decorations.

• Have containers with lids so they can be stacked and everything kept dust free. I recommend square, clear, plastic bins.

• If you put the same decorations in the same place every year it will be most efficient to store decorations by room. Simply label a bin "dinning room" and place all the decorations for that room in that bin

• Have 1 bin for all the tree decorations. If you have too many have a separate bin for the tree lights and garland.

• 1 bin for outside lights and garland. Label each piece of garland and strands of lights with the location it belongs in - around front door, lamp post etc.

By following this method you will be able to decorate 1 area of your home at a time and finish that area before pulling out decorations for the next room. The process will be more orderly and less overwhelming.

• Take the time to roll the lights around a reel or piece of cardboard to prevent the dreaded job of untangling a clump of lights.

• Label all bins and put them all together in one place in your storage area with the label facing you so they can be read.

I hope you find these tips helpful.
I wish you all happy holidays and a healthy, happy, well organized new year.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Dinner Party Planning

Preparing as much as possible in advance will give you more time with your guests. Try these easy tips.

Keep the meal simple this is not the time to try something news. Consider serving dishes that can be started in a crock pot early in the day. Avoid dishes that are labor intensive and require a lot of last minute preparation.

1. Plan your menu at least 2 weeks before the party:

• List all the courses and what you'll serve for each course.

• Make a grocery list of everything you'll need. If you plan on purchasing something from a bakery or butcher place the order now.

• If guest will be contributing to the dinner ask them to tell you exactly what they are bringing; or ask them to bring exactly what you need. You may even provide them with a recipe.

2. Shop for groceries 2 days before the party, any earlier and the fruits and veggies won't be fresh.

3. The day before the party pick-up anything you ordered from a bakery etc.

4. The night before the party:

• Set the table.

• Cut up any veggies, fruit, meat or herbs; place them in containers and put them back in the fridge.

• Mix any dry ingredients you can for each recipe. Small Rubbermaid containers hold these ingredients well. Tape a note to each container to remind you which recipe the ingredients go with.

• Put the condiments in their serving dishes and place them back in the fridge.

• Take out the serving dishes you will use. Write what you intend on putting in the dish on a small piece of paper and put the paper inside the dish. This will make it easy to get the food from the stove to the table. It will also make it easy for guest to help you.

?5. Clear the dish washer of every day dishes so it is empty and ready to be filled with the party dishes.

I hope by following these tips you are able to enjoy hosting dinner parties and find the holiday season a little less stressful

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Organizing the garage, it's worth the effort!

Organizing a 2 car garage that is so full that the car can't get inside will take an entire weekend if you attack the whole thing at once. To avoid burnout I suggest organizing your garage one bay at a time.

• Start by taking everything out of one bay and placing it on the driveway in categories, car cleaning products, toys, gardening supplies, tools etc.

• Next go through those piles and throw away what is broken or no longer wanted. If the item is in good condition put it in a box or large bag labeled "donate". What's left in your driveway will be things you want to keep. These items will need to go back into the garage.

• Assess your storage options. Keep in mind you have another bay to sort. Do you have enough shelving in the garage? Do you need to create storage below the ceiling for seldom used items? Having enough shelving is critical to your organizing efforts. Take measurements of the space that's available, leaving enough space for the car doors to open without hitting the shelves. Purchase and assemble shelves as needed.

• Place everything that is in the driveway on the shelves in the garage by category making sure to leave room for expansion; remember you've only worked on one bay. To avoid having lots of small items on shelves consider putting like things together in a clear plastic bin.

Next weekend repeat these steps for the second bay. Remember the lesson in the August issue of Quick Tips - like things together Let's Play a Game? Follow that rule and combine like things from both bays onto the shelves. When it's all done and you've place everything where you want it label the shelves. You can even hang signs on the wall or from the ceiling naming each section "car care", "gardening" like department stores do.

This may seem like a lot of work but won't it be worth it if it means not having to scrap off the car each morning?

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Stress Free Mornings

Now that September has arrived most of us are back to a regular schedule which means getting ourselves and the kids up and out of the house each morning. If you want your morning routine to go smoothly, with as little stress and aggravation as possible, you need to think ahead and organize yourself the night before. This month's feature article will help you develop routines that make getting out of the house easy.

The first step in getting out the door in the morning is preparing the night before. Here is a list of things you can do the night before:

• Set the breakfast table with everything that doesn't have to be refrigerated such as dishes, utensils, napkin, cereal box etc.

• Choose the clothes you and the rest of the family will wear. This is especially important with young children who want to choose their own clothes but have trouble making up their minds. It's easier to handle indecision the night before rather than the morning when the clock is ticking.

• Backpacks must be packed with everything (except lunches) the children need and placed by the door they'll use to exit the house in the morning. If you are driving the children you can put the backpacks in the car the night before.

• Put everything you're taking to work in the car or near the door.

• Shower the night before. Are there 2 or more people using the bathroom in the morning? Consider having one person shower the night before to free up the bathroom in the morning. The person who showers in the morning must get up first. Sleeping a little later each morning is incentive to shower the night before.

• If you pack a lunch put everything you're taking that doesn't need refrigeration in the lunch box/bag.

• Keep all sandwich fixings together in one container in the refrigerator so you can grab it all at once.

It's important to give yourself enough time to do all that needs to be done in the morning. Consider the following:

• What time do you need to arrive at work?
• How long does it take you to drive to work?
• How long does it take to shower and get dressed?
• How long does it take to eat breakfast?
• How much time do you need to make lunches?
• How long does it take to get the children out the door?

Now add up all these hours and add at least 15 minutes to the total. This is how much time it takes you to get up, dressed, out of the house and to work everyday. Now you know what time you have to get up each morning if you want your morning routine to go smoothly with little stress and aggravation. It does take planning but it'll be worth it.

If you would like help perfecting your morning routine please email me or call me directly at (603) 821-0736.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Let's Play a Game.

Which one of these is not like the other? Do you remember that game we all played as kids? You can organize your home using the same principles - like things together.

The key to being able to put your hands on whatever it is you need is to keep all like things together. By keeping like things together you will only have one place to look when you need that type of item. Think of a grocery store, all the meat is together, all the dairy is together, all the produce is together etc. To some extent you're already doing this in your home. Think of your own kitchen and how you store the eating utensil; would you consider putting the forks in one drawer, the knives in another drawer and the spoons in a third drawer? No, we always put all our eating utensils in one drawer. Just continue to use this thought process for all the other things in your home.

In the garage all of the tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, & wrenches should be together in one section. The gardening tools should be together in another section, car care products in a section and sporting equipment in a section.
When organizing young children's rooms invite them to play the matching game, this will sound a lot more interesting then asking them to "clean" their room. Give books, stuffed animals, board games their own space.
In your bedroom dresser you would put all of your "T" shirts in one drawer, your cardigan sweaters in another drawer and your sleepwear in a third drawer. This will also save you time when you put the laundry away. There will be no question where things go.
In you home office you should keep all of your papers related to your car in one file with the make of your car on the tab; if you have more than one car make a folder for each car. Put all records of maintenance, recalls, warranties etc in the appropriate folder. If you ever have to prove an item is under warranty this simple system could save you hundreds of dollars; it saved me $350 a few years ago.

This simple step of keeping like things together can make a world of difference in your organizing efforts. Good luck, and may you never search for misplaced items again.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC

Less is more...more relaxing, more soothing, more spacious.

Eliminate the things you don't use. If you don't want to get rid of the item completely store it in an out-of-the-way place on the top shelf of the closet or cabinet. Place it in a bin that is labeled with the date you put it there. We'll address what to do with these items in another issue of Quick Tips.

I know many of you will have objections to getting rid of unused items so let's address those objections now. The most common objections I hear and my response to them follow:
I spent a lot of money on it. Keeping it will not get your money back; the money has been spent. Keeping it may just mean that your home is crowded and cluttered instead of spacious and a pleasant place to be. Keeping it also reminds you of the money you wasted which only makes you feel bad. Who wants thing around that make them feel bad?
Someone gave it to me. The person who gave it to you wanted you to use it not trip over it or feel obligated to keep it just because he/she gave it to you. How would the giver feel if they knew the item was upsetting you because you didn't like it and didn't know what to do with it?
Maybe I'll wear it/use it someday. What's the worse that could happen if you gave away something and later decided you needed it? If it's an inexpensive item and takes up a lot of space it may feel a lot better to have the open space and to take your chances on purchasing the item again in a few years if you need it. If the item is small, expensive and easy to store it may be worth keeping but ask yourself how many of these gadgets do you have and when was the last time you needed one. Be honest now.
Hopefully these tips will get you started cleaning out the unwanted items that take up space in your home. That is the first step in any organizing project.

Copyright 2012 Naturally Organized LLC