Lots of us keep important reference information and papers in many different places - by the phone, on the fridge or bulletin board, in the file cabinet, in a desk or kitchen drawer - it’s hard to keep track of them all!

Maybe you’d benefit by setting up some reference binders. What you need for each one is a 3-ring binder with tabbed and labeled dividers, plus paper (of course) and punched sheets with pockets for storing printed information like leaflets and cards. Ideas for sections include:

Recreation

Education

Food

Info for babysitter

Recommended resources

Printable reference sheets and checklists

“Get Organized Now” series by Maria Gracia

Some kind of a system and routine is essential to keep our financial lives under control and the bills paid on time.

First, what happens when bills, receipts and other financial items arrive in your house? Have a specific place to put them all, every time: I keep a dedicated in-box (actually a cardboard tray!) and drop bank statements, bills, receipts, etc straight into it. If you receive bills and statements online, you may want a dedicated folder in your email system to collect them all.

Then, create a routine for dealing with them, whether weekly, monthly or at some other time interval.

Once you’ve dealt with them, have a place to store them, whether it’s a file system or shoebox. Whatever it is, just be consistent and you’ll be able to find things when you need them.

More on getting organized

Your brain is not a good place to store things. The more things you try to remember, the more stress builds up.

Have a place to record things: planner, index cards, voice recorder, PDA or computer. Have a way to get things you’ve recorded, into your system: use an inbox of some kind. Use routines or checklists for regular or repeated tasks. Have a daily or weekly routine for gathering up stray papers, getting them into the right inbox, and processing them.

Keep lists: “To buy”, “To mend”, “waiting for” (delegated tasks, orders not yet received, stuff you’re waiting for answers on), “someday” (things you’d like to do and don’t want to forget, but not just yet), and “agendas” (things you need to remember to talk about or do with individual people and at meetings).

Recommended resources

Book: David Allen “Getting Things Done”

I’ve read many, many “organizing” books over decades and this is the one which has made the most difference for me. It is eminently practical, detailed and straightforward. It doesn’t require you to buy any specific tools: you can use anything from a paper notebook, planner, or index cards to a PDA or computer.

Main strengths are in processes to capture, record, plan and organize tasks and projects. Not so strong on how to actually get yourself to DO all those tasks!

If you have a hobby that uses materials, you probably have a “stash”. If your hobby involves equipment, you may have older models or versions. These are prime candidates for decluttering.

Ask yourself:

• will I ever use this again?
• Does it still meet safety or environmental standards?
• Is it still in fashion or totally dated?
• Is the quality up to what I now use?
• Do I still have the tools needed to use or maintain it?
• Is it worth more to someone else than it is to me?
• Has it degraded in storage?
• Could I use the money I’d get by selling it, or the space it’s occupying, better for something else?
• Would it be easy to replace if I ever needed it again?

You may also have information resources for your hobby - books, magazines, videos, CDs etc. More questions:

• Do I have the technology to use/read/play this?
• Is the information still relevant, or outdated?
• Are my skills now well beyond this level?
• Am I still interested in this facet of the hobby?
• Can I find this information elsewhere?

Decluttering your hobby or craft “stuff” can free up space, energy, time or money to actually DO the thing you want to do!

More information on decluttering…

Create a “landing zone” by the exterior door you use the most, whether that’s the front, kitchen or garage door. Use it to hold all the things you put down as you come in the door (keys, wallet, purse, car door opener…) and the stuff waiting to go out next time you go (library books, video rentals, dry cleaning, thrift store donations…).

Size and type depends on your family and lifestyle: it could be anything from a single shelf to a set of cubbies, hooks, bins and shelves for each family member.

Security tip: make sure keys and wallet are not visible or reachable through a window or mail slot.

Every room in the house has some clutter – but some are worse than others. On the other hand, I spend a lot more time in some than in others. It’s a tradeoff between how much junk there is to get rid of, and how often I see it. If I were to pick Most Cluttered, it would be the basement laundry room. Most Lived In would be my home office – but the clutter in there is mostly my daughter’s and when she moves out it will go with her. Hmmm.

See more progress on: declutter my house

Not necessarily ALL the counters, but clearing everything off the stretch of kitchen counter you use most for prep and baking makes a big difference in how easy it is to work. It makes for less cleaning, too, when you don’t have to wipe spatters off half a dozen doodads sitting at the back of the counter!

If there are often-used things which deserve to be “always out” in that counter area, try mounting them on the wall: magnetic strips hold knives and other items, mini-shelves hold condiments and spices, hooks and racks hold cups and mugs. Need to have a small appliance sitting there? Try an under-cabinet mounted version to get it off the counter.

Once you have a clean sweep of counter to work on, you’ll cherish it.