Don’t let things on their way to the thrift store or the dump hang around too long. Apart from the fact that the boxes of stuff are clutter in themselves, it’s too easy to change your mind and decide to pull something back out of the box.
If you have a lot of boxes, or large [...]
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 [...]
If you design for low maintenance from the beginning, or spend time making a few changes designed for low maintenance, you can reduce your regular chores for years into the future, a great way to get a really huge time-savings payback!
Reduce the amount of mess and dirt coming into the house
This is your first line [...]
Toys with lots of small parts (like LEGO and other construction toys) are an ongoing storage and organization problem. The pieces tend to spread themselves about during play, and then it takes a long time to gather them all up to put them away. And if you’ve ever stepped on a LEGO brick on the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
