Category: Organized Family

National Preparedness Month: Get Your Kit

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National Preparedness Month is a national campaign encouraging individuals, families and communities to prepare for natural and national disasters.  Established in 2003, National Preparedness Month grew out of our shared national experiences with the tragedy of 9/11/2001 and other large-scale natural disasters. 

     I am especially appreciative of the NPM campaign because it gives me language to use with my kids, so we can speak about preparedness without instilling fear or dread.  My older sons were very young when the tragedy of 9/11 occurred, the youngest not yet born.   They talked about 9/11 in school this year, but it is difficult to strike the right tone of respect, justice, forgiveness, strength, caution and courage.

     Using the steps suggested at Ready.gov, Our family is able to get and stay prepared for what life may throw our way, be calm and confident in that, and move on.  The three parts of the National Preparedness Month Kit are Get a Kit, Make A Plan, and Be Prepared.   Here we will talk about your Kit:

Create or purchase a Preparedness Kit, including a First Aid Kit (see below):

  1. Click here for Standard contents: (and keep the list hand for inventorying and re-stocking items).
  2. We purchased our Preparedness Kit from Costco a couple of years ago, so this month I just need to check and see that all the contents are stocked, and that the expiration dates are still a year away. 
  3. If you want to purchase a Kit, or just want more ideas or visuals on what to put in yours, Google search “Emergency Kit”.  I got a bunch of hits, including the one I bought from Costco.
  4. Make it your own:  Include items specific to your family, like pet foods or formula and baby supplies.
  5. Instead of packing all the camping stuff they recommend on the Ready.gov website, we store our Emergency Kit with our camping supplies in a convenient basement closet. 

My kids (actually my cub scouts next week) and I are putting together  A First Aid Kit.

  1. Click here for a list of Standard Contents (and keep the list hand for inventorying and re-stocking items).
  2. Make it your own:  use a standard list of contents, but also include items specific to your family, like infant or children’s strength pain relievers, inhalers, safety pins (we use a lot of safety pins), extra band-aids (we go through a lot of band aids), or diabetic supplies.
  3. For my Cub Scouts, we will put together a simple first aid kit they can take hiking or traveling.  We will brainstorm the contents and they can add stuff when they get home, but at our meeting I will supply individually packaged antibacterial wipes, tissues, band-aids, dental picks (my youngest always seems to need those), gauze and tape, q-tips, tweezers, ointment, checklists and clear, waterproof baggies (zip lock), and whatever else I dream up.  Perhaps a deck of cards, or a list of family phone numbers.
  4. We have first aid kits in multiple places: in the house, in my van, with our hiking / camping supplies, and a small one in my purse.  If you have kits already, too, use National Preparedness Month as your yearly reminder to check the level of your supplies, and the expiration dates on your perishable items like pain relievers and ointments. 

    For more information:

 Take some time this month to prepare yourself and your family for what life may throw your way.  Then be calm and competent and move on!

Why I Organize my Family (and you should, too!)

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     My goal for writing is to motivate and educate my readers and clients about organizing. Most people who contact me need organizing motivation or education, or a mixture of both.

     My last few blogs have been heavy on the How-To, as in how to organize for Back To School, but this week I want to talk about the Why.  Why should we and our children get organized for Back To School?  And this applies to everyone, not just folks in the midst of Back To School right now!

 We want our children to do well in school and in life.

    1. Last fall, I renamed my Organize Your Kids class “An Organized Family”.  Sometimes it is not the children who make a family disorganized, but we adults. It is up to me to get my kids to school on time, even as they get a little older.
    2. Lack of organization is often interpreted as lack of preparation, cooperation or knowledge.  Good grades are great, but if your child is regularly late or unprepared, it will reflect negatively on him. 
    3. Tardiness disrupts class and instruction, and it singles out your child.  And your child has to face the teacher and school staff every morning, not you.
    4. One of my myriad of responsibilities as a parent is to cultivate a strong work ethic and life skills in my children.  We are not raising children to remain children, we are raising future adults.
    5. Your child probably wants to be on time, but may be nervous about asking you or doesn’t realize things can be different.

We want life to be less complicated. 

    1. We live in a complicated world.  There are so many responsibilities vying for our time and resources. 
    2. We want more living and less drama.  More time spent with loved ones in good relationships, less time spent on stuff. 
    3. Having a better grasp of our time allows us to not worry about being on time.  Go figure!
    4. For example, we establish our morning routine every August, and we know that if we stick with it, all is well.
    5. We are well-rested, clean, dressed and well-fed, prepared for our day and on time.  If we just do what we’re supposed to do, we have fun and relax, without drama.  

We realize we are the parents, the Adult, and we set the example.

    1. We have to teach our children to do things for themselves before we can expect our kids to do things for themselves.
    2. Be clear with your expectations.  Be clear, be brief and keep them simple.
    3. In quiet reflection after Mass, I realized that if I can give an hour, uninterrupted, to God during the Mass, I should do the same for my kids, every morning from 7-8.  So that is one of my goals for this morning, to focus solely on preparing for the day during that hour with my kids, until we’re on track.

We want to be able to say “Yes” to new things. 

    1. My way is not the only way, nor is it the best way for every family.   I happen to value organization, and am convinced of the importance of organization for success in life.  That is purely my opinion, there are lots of things to value in life. 
    2. I had an artistically creative and wonderful class participant ask me “What if some days I don’t feel like being organized?”.  I understand where she is coming from, sort of, like some days it is fun to abandon routine and go with the flow.  But I don’t view Organization as an Either / Or.  I view it as a means to a better life.
    3. Because we are organized, we can be flexible and open to new things, and respond to opportunities that come our way, or make our own opportunities for new things or activities or experiences. 

      So, my challenge to you this week is to look at your own ideas about organizing, and make a list, mental or other wise, of your answers to the Why Get Organized question.

     Above is my list of Why statements, my answers to the Why Get Organized? Question.  Your list may look completely different, and that is great!  Just give it some thought, find your motivators, post them where you can see them, and use them to help you stay on track in the busy days ahead!

A Great Morning Starts The Night Before!

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(A note: I originally wrote this article for Speech Plus in Frankfort, IL for their Back-To-School newsletter issue.  They graciously agreed to let me post the information, for the benefit of all!   For more information regarding Speech Plus, P.C., go to their website at www.speechplus.org, or find them on Facebook.)

Getting ready and out the door in the morning can be a challenge, especially for families!  Here are 5 things you can do tonight to make tomorrow morning great:

  1. Look ahead.  After dinner, check tomorrow’s schedule. Assemble by the door the items needed for your work presentation, your child’s school band rehearsal or soccer practice.  Complete permission slips, make sure your teenager has lunch money, note special needs or events.  Do this early in the evening while you still have time to run to the grocery for snacks or wash the soccer uniform.
  2. After dinner is a great time to pack all the lunches for tomorrow, too.  Pop them back in the refrigerator, and grab them and go in the morning rush.  Pack one for your self, too!
  3. Lay out clothes for tomorrow, for you and your children.  If you have small children and some open floor space, lay out the clothes on the floor, face down, as though they were on a child, to help your young one get himself dressed independently.  If you have older children, take out the guess-work and roll ensembles together or leave them on a hanger all together in the closet.
  4. Put the school work away tonight, leaving out only an item or 2 if there is last-minute test review to do.  Otherwise pack up the backpack when the homework is done for the night, and leave it by the door to grab and go.
  5. Go to bed.  Good sleep hygiene is vital to success, for you and for your children.  Calming night-time routines with family time, soothing lighting and relaxing reading ensure restorative sleep and a better morning tomorrow!  Introduce the school-year bedtime a week before school begins, to ease your sleepers and your self into the new time.

A great school day begins with a great morning, and a great mornings starts the night before.  Here’s to a successful school year!

BTS: Never Be Late Again!

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Last August, I resolved we would be on time for school. Every day. And except for the very last day of school, when there was an actual flood in our neighborhood, we accomplished our goal.

Do you know why we succeeded?  Because I realized that my own adherence to my own routine can make or break our morning.  If we are late for school, by and large, it really is my fault.

As my children grow up, the responsibility shifts to their shoulders.  Some mornings, kid cooperation is not 100%.  But it is still up to me to set the example, to create (with family in-put) and stick with our Morning Routine, to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted, to keep the goal of “School On Time and Prepared” ever in sight.

Your kids may have a few weeks until they go back to school, and soon their morning routines will get tweaked.  So, this week, get your own Back To School (or going to work every day) Routine on track, and make the BTS transition easier for everyone!

Get up when you plan to get up.

I admit, I am a snoozer.  When the alarm sounds, my hubby hops up and stays up.   Me?  Not so much.  I learn from him, though, and moved the alarm clock more than an arm length away from the bed, to keep me from smacking the snooze button without even fully registering that the alarm went off.

Why?  Because I use an alarm for a reason.  I need to get up at 6 am to get myself ready before the kids get up.  And if I don’t get up with the alarm, I defeat my own intentions before I even get out of bed.  Setting the alarm earlier and allowing snooze time doesn’t solve the problem, either, now does it?  Nope.  Same bad habit and defeatist behavior.  So bye-bye bedside clock, hello hidden-under-the-bed or across-the-room clock.

And, DO NOT set your clock ahead.  Everyone knows it is set ahead, and it loses effectiveness (unless you set it a minute or two ahead, and don’t tell anyone….)

Get Ready First.

I talk about “Back to Ready” with my clients.  It is a mental image of what an organized and ready family looks like.  We know what is necessary to get ready, how to do those things, and that once we’re there, we can go do something fun.

But it has to start with getting Me “Back To Ready”.  Why bother getting the kids or the house ready for us to go if I am  not ready?  First order of the day is to get myself up and showered and dressed and fed.  Then I am much more available and coherent when the kids get up.

Lower Your Morning Standards.

Whenever I talk about routines, I always suggest to write down what you Need to do in the morning.  And, yes, I said NEED.  Make sure the Needs are covered, then move on to the Wants.  Needs are get clean, get dressed, eat breakfast, get out the door.  Everything else is extra.

I am the queen of starting just one more thing when I should be leaving, but that “one more thing” like writing an email or starting a load of clothes can make us late.  You and I both need to Write It Down and save it for later, and get out the door.

I read an article the other day that suggested we all Need to rise before 5 am to meditate, journal, work out, conference call with Singapore and grind our own flour for organic muffins for our families (yes, I made some of that up.  But not all!) before 7 am.  But if that list of things to do is not for you, don’t worry.  Stick with Needs, then move to Wants.

Recognize Load Time and Leave Time are two different things. 

Load Time:  The time we start loading ourselves in the van.  Factor in the every-morning-search for the 11 year- old’s watch, the 7 year-old’s daily dash to the bathroom as soon as I holler “Let’s go, people!”

Leave Time:  Time you pull out of the garage and head to school.  Leave Time factors in the length of the car ride / walk to school and adds a little cushion.  Aim for 5 minutes early to start with, it’s better to be early rather than late!  And don’t consider Early early.  Consider it On Time.

If you only have yourself to get out the door every morning, you can learn from this, too, especially if you find yourself running back for a few things as you leave the house.  Know your self.  For example, if you have to leave at 7:30 am to get to the office on time, aim for 7:20, realizing you always search for your car keys, double-check the locks, share a few words with the neighbor, or forget something.  And if you actually get to work a few minutes early, that is great, too!

So, whether you are going Back to School or not, let me challenge you this week to make your Morning Routine work better for you, and Get Where You Are Going On Time Next Time.  Give it some thought, get up a little earlier (or just move the alarm clock like me) and never be late again!

Clean Your Home: Everyday or All At Once?

     Do you clean your home?  I am assuming most of you do.  So the next question is:  when?  Are you a spend-time-on-it-everyday person, or a clean-it-all-at-once person?  Or have you ever even thought about it?

     There is no wrong answer to this question, but knowing yours helps focus your Clean House mission. It may also be helpful to note that the answer to “Clean Your Home:  Every day or all at once?” can change as your life changes.  The All-At-Once way was no longer working for me, so I made the plan and the decision to change to Every Day.

     My goal for today’s blog is not to persuade you to choose one method or the other, but to suggest:

  1. There is always more than one way to complete a work project;
  2. Before jumping into action, give your situation some thought, and determine how best to attack that project; 
  3. Be flexible and open to other ideas, and find solutions that work for you; and
  4. Even something as mundane as cleaning your house becomes more meaningful if you set your terms for getting it done.   

    I started my current experiment in May, here are my notes from that day:

  • May 15th.  I love my house.  I love my family.  But I don’t love losing my weekends to housecleaning.  My schedule used to allow one full day dedicated to my home, but as the kids and business have grown, I can’t spare a whole day for cleaning.
  • Friday was Cleaning Day, which worked great even when we traveled, because I could clean and pack as I went.  
  • However, I still have to get Back To Ready on Mondays (or if we are traveling, whenever we got back), and maintain during the week, too.  And often, Cleaning Day gets pushed to Saturday, Sunday or even Monday before I finish. 
  • I feel like I am cleaning all the time, but I don’t feel it is getting done well, and I stress with the tension between doing it all / cleaning when I have time / making time to clean. 
  • I am embarking on a new house cleaning / maintenance schedule.  I will spend a House Hour every day on cleaning and maintenance instead of the All At Once approach.  The little-bits every day approach chafes against my perfectionist tendency of wanting everything DONE at least for a moment, but I am optimistic.
  • To Sum up, Challenges:
    • There is work to do, lots of effort goes into maintaining a home. 
    • I do most of the work alone most weeks.  I don’t know how to ask for help.
    • Am I really teaching my kids any life skills if I am the only person who cleans the house, and I do it while they are at school?
    • Will I have those children that go to college not knowing how to clean a bathroom or do their laundry? 
    • Am I demonstrating that only women do house work?  All of this has to change!
    • I can clean all day one day a week, and still need to maintain every day, too.  If I have to maintain every day anyway, could I just do that for a longer block of time instead of All At Once AND Daily Maintenance?
  • July 25th:  Outcomes of my experiment.
    • Click here to see my house cleaning spreadsheet.  It hangs on my refrigerator in a plastic page protector so I can assign chores to different people, and cross things off as we complete them.  Make your own, and add whatever you want!
    • We have done pretty well.  The house is consistently tidy.  In the All At Once approach, I would give up maintenance a day or 2 before my scheduled Cleaning Day, which became a growing problem if Cleaning Day got pushed later and later!
    • I love the daily approach.  There are some days our House Hour does not happen, because we are exceptionally busy or out playing (it is summer, after all!), but then I dedicate more time the next day, and catch up.
    • As we’ve gotten better at this House Hour idea, I have learned some days are easier than others, and I can spend more of the Hour on the easy days on organizing or projects.  This week, we look at school clothes  and supplies, and clean out my little guy’s toy box. 
    • The kids are learning the different tasks and skills that go into maintaining a clean home, how a household works and how they are a part of it.      
    • I am still working on the Asking For Help part, and probably will be for life.  A finite list of things of tasks for each day is less intimidating for all of us.  Once their tasks are done, they can go play. 
    • A personal challenge for me is to accept “different” as “just as good as my way”.  This is tough for me, but I am learning.  My wonderful hubby did the bulk of our vacation laundry, God bless him.  And his way is just as good as mine, though dissimilar.  It made me momentarily crabby, then I smacked (metaphorically) my self upside the head and reminded myself that the laundry was clean and folded, and I did not have to do it.  Woo hoo!
    • I was pleasantly surprised today.   We just got home back from a week’s vacation, and I am often overwhelmed when reality rushes back in after a week away.  But things look fine today, and I can pick back up my House Hour tomorrow. 

     So if you have ever felt the tension of when / how / what to clean, give your timing some thought and see what works best for you.  Try something new for a month or 2 – you’re a smart person and you can change – and see how it goes!

Did You Remember To Pack The…

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This summer will find my family in multiple states and destinations.  And so begins the summer travel season!  Preparing for Travel can be a mixed bag, though, excited at the prospect of your adventures yet overwhelmed with the details of packing and unpacking.   One of the most organized and well- traveled people I know admits to having the “What did I forget to pack/bring” fear “every.single.trip”.   And I can empathize!

Vacation is about getting away, even getting away from our stuff, but some stuff really needs to come along.  How do you ensure it makes the trip?  Read on….

Standardized Packing Lists:

  1. Standardized packing lists are great tools to help you focus your packing efforts.  Looking for inspiration?  Do a google search for “Packing List”.  Here are some of my favorites:
  2. Over time, I’ve made a Klimczak Family Packing List.  I update it in the computer, and print it for family member use.  We’ve even laminated it, and used dry erase markers to chart our packing progress.
  3. Our packing list includes clothes and toiletries, of course, but also items like baseball mitts, game systems and chargers for the kids, travel snacks and work stuff for me.
  4. The boys have a packing list posted in their room, too, so when I tell them where we are going and for how long, they look at the list and bring the right things for the right number of days.
  5. Use a standardized toiletry packing list, too, and post it on the inside of the medicine cabinet door and in your toiletry bag closet, to ensure you don’t forget the small items!

Set Aside Things as you remember them, or at least Add Them To The List:

  1. Keeping your list in the computer allows for edits as you learn from every travel experience.  Tweak your standardized list as your travel needs change, your kids get older, etc.
  2. Keep a Trip Bag set aside for upcoming trips, and a folder for the same, either on your computer or in hard copy.  As you purchase or remember something for that trip (Father’s Day cards, gifts, beach towels, etc), or receive travel brochures or itineraries, put  them in the bag.  That way, all that is left to pack on travel day is clothes and toiletries.   We may have a couple of Trip Bags on the shelf, if we have more than one Trip coming up.
  3. You can also re-pack commonly used items as soon as you come home.  For example,
  4. Keep a set of toiletries just for travel, if you travel often.  The time saved is worth the extra expense.  We also always carry: An eyeglass repair kit, a  small sewing kit, a small first aid kit and 2 night lights.  I  used to pack an alarm clock, but now I just set  my smart phone alarm
  5. Carry one toiletry bag or shave kit for the whole family.  A friend suggested this one, and I have to agree with her.   If each family member packs their own kit, we end up lugging around duplicates of everything.  There are some items we can all share, like lotion, shampoo and conditioner.

Finally, Take a breath.  Don’t let fear or the need to be perfect keep you from enjoying your trip.

Ask yourself “What is the worse that can happen?”

  1. If the answer is “I might have to stop by a store once I reach my destination for sunscreen or tooth paste”, is that really so bad?  No.
  2. If the answer is “I forget my airline boarding passes or passport or the wedding gift or my notes for my speech”, then make sure to write those items down on your check list, and put them aside as you get them!

So, my challenge to you this week, whether you are traveling soon or not, is to check out the on-line packing lists or start creating your own.  In addition, pick a spot for your Trip Bag (ours is in the coat closet) and remember to toss things in the Trip Bag for upcoming travels.  And relax and enjoy your summer vacation!!

“Going Away” Checklist

Ask yourself:

What do you do every time you leave the house?  Run around like a crazy person, hoping you remembered to do everything….

What do you wish you had done, an hour into your trip?  Unplug the iron, set the DVR, water the grass, check the faucets….

What are some tasks that would make your getting-out-the-door go more smoothly? (insert your list here!)

What would make your coming-home more pleasant?  and Wouldn’t a standardized list of this stuff make the whole process a lot easier?

Of course it would!

One of my most often used and beloved organizing tools is a simple hand-written index card with a dozen or so task items written on it.  It is a standardized list of what I need to do to get the house ready for us to leave.  I laminated it early on, so that I could cross off the tasks as I accomplished them with a dry-erase marker and re-use the card.  And I have. Over and over again!

Whenever it is time to close up the house for a while and leave, for either a quick over-night trip or a 2 week vacation, the list remains the same. The tasks take an hour (uninterrupted) to complete, and then I can leave the house with a clear conscience.    The biggest motivators for creating the “Going Away” checklist were:

1. Clarity of thought, just in case I am leaving in a rush or for an emergency;
2. Safety, above all;
3. Energy and resource economy; and
4. Avoiding pests like ants, gnats or mice.

Here is the List: “Going Away”:

Kitchen:

  • Clear the fridge, toss left overs, Freeze what can be frozen
  • Refrigerate what can be refrigerated (fruit bowl or bread on the counter)
  • Wipe down surfaces
  • Lock stove door, make sure burners are off
  • Turn off the coffee maker timer
  • Wrap up the dishes, start the dishwasher and run the garbage disposal to clear it

Pets and Plants:

  • Dog: Plan or Pack up her stuff (when we had a dog)
  • Fish: Vacation Feeder pellet, or a plan for someone to watch them
  • Gerbil: Check water and food levels, or have a plan for someone to watch them
  • Plants: Water all, including the garden

House

  • Bedrooms: make beds, laundry to hamper
  • Close and lock all windows, pull shades in bedrooms and family room
  • Vacuum all
  • Turn up / down thermostat
  • Turn off / unplug computers
  • Take out the trash
  • Final walk through for safety and water check, making sure things are turned off or unplugged

So, my challenge to you this week is to Make Your Own “Going Away” check list.

  • Sit down with a pen and paper, and note all the tasks you tend to do to get ready to go.
  • Be an objective observer the next time you are getting ready to travel, and figure out if anything needs to be added to your Going Away Checklist, or subtracted, if it is not really important.
  • Most of the tasks on my list can be shared or delegated to my kids, too, and help is always welcome!
  • The order of my tasks is important, too, leading from one to another in a logical fashion, the path I walk through my house.

So, spend a little time now to make your next departure go smoothly and your next homecoming more pleasant.  What does your list look like?  Please share!  And safe travels!

Organize your (insert here) this Summer!

Take advantage of lighter schedules and brighter days and use the Summer time to make progress on your organizing projects.  Summer projects should be short and easy, especially if you want your family to lend a hand.  And any project goes smoother if you reward yourself and family with a fun summer pay-off like a trip to the park or for ice-cream!

First, get together and make your wish list, see Balance Your Summer Time blog from last year.

Don’t know where to start organizing?  Walk around your house with a clipboard (it helps you look at your home objectively) and note areas of concern.  Also, pat yourself on the back when you see an idea or space you really love.

So what are your projects?  An informal FB poll about summer organizing projects tells me the most popular projects were toys and photos.  I was stymied, trying to figure out how to address both in one blog article and under 1,000 words. 

But the great thing about organizing is that the process is the same, no matter what type of item we are trying to organize!  You can learn from these tips – just swap out “books” or “Clothes” for toys, and yes, it really is that easy!  Also, before you get start any project: 

1. Break big projects into little pieces – don’t try to organize all the toys or photos in one day. Tackle a room or even an area of a room (like the toy box or the book shelves) first.  Spend an hour, take a break, and come back tomorrow.

2.  Assign a destination for your clutter.  Old DVDs and book clutter will be donated to our local library for their book sale, Nintendo games will be sold or swapped, clothes will be donated to charity, etc.  Knowing where things are going helps us let them go. 

To Organize, Per Julie Morgenstern, We Sort, Purge, Assign a Home, Containerize and Equalize.  So, toys:

  • SORT toys by type (outdoor, indoor, books, games, size, shape, color, by child or developmental age, or in whatever other way that makes sense to you and your kids).
  • Clutter is anything we don’t Need, Use or Love.  PURGE all the things you don’t need, use or love.  Duplicate toys, broken toys, baby toys or toys we just don’t play with any more.  PURGE can mean donate, sell, trash, recycle, share with friends, or put away for a rainy day.
  • ASSIGN A HOME and CONTAINERIZE (these two are very closely linked):  Figure out where to store the toys and how, based on where and how the kids play with them. For example:
    • Last summer, to make space for 2 growing boys, we moved all the toys out of my older sons’ bedroom and into the basement play room.  Once we chose where to store toys, then we decided how to store them.
    • We have Legos, good golly do we have Legos, in every color and size and shape imaginable.  We store them in a couple of ways, though, based on how we use them.  
    • Assembled kits like monsters and space ships and castles have book shelves dedicated for display.
    • The big table is for active play and assembly. 
    • And we have large shallow see-through bins (think under-bed storage bins) beneath the table for the extra pieces.  I assembled a lego sorter for a client’s son, a neat item with shallow pull-out drawers for each color.  If your kids build based on color, perhaps the sorter idea would appeal to you.  My guys like things all jumbled up, so that’s how we store them.
  • And EQUALIZE means Maintenance.  Once we sort our toys, clear out the clutter, and determine where and how to store the items we keep, we just need to put things away once in a while (I know, easier said than done).  But consider how much easier it will be for everyone to put stuff away now that there is less clutter, and an official home and storage options for the toys. 
  • Photos:
    • There are organizers that specialize just in photo organizing and they are not me.  I admire my scrapbooking friends for their creativity and tenacity, but it is not a hobby of mine. BUT, the same organizing rules apply.
    • Sort:  First things first, bring all your pictures together.  Data cards and keys, camera cards, hard drives, boxes and envelopes.  When you are sorting photos, sorting chronologically is the most meaningful.  You can also sort photos by subject matter, but sorting first by date really helps, especially with digital pictures. 
    • Purge:  Purging is tough with photos, but you can start with duplicates, bad photos of you or others and photos that just don’t matter anymore. 
    • Assign a Home / Containerize:
      • I need to mention data retention and back up.  With digital photos, I recommend at least one back up (external hard drive, disc, flash drive, etc), or perhaps on-line storage.
      • How do you want to use your photos? Are you just storing them for some day, or do you need to print them for distribution or craft projects?  The answers to these questions will determine how and where to store them. 
      • And Equalizing, or Maintenance, is critical for success.  In all things.  Once you have your photos organized, make sure to download and save your photos regularly, say, once a month or after every vacation, and make sure to back them up.  Print photos if you want to use them.  Just do something with them!
  • So  my challenge for you this week is to look around and see what projects you might have, and decide when and how you want to address them.  Take advantage of the summer time for long-term and outdoor projects, or projects you want your family to help with!  Happy Summer, and Happy Organizing!

The Day the Bags Come Home

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Summer relaxes our daily routine, and brings opportunities to work on organizing projects.  Paper is always an issue, but working on kid and school papers in the summer offers the rare opportunity of cleaning papers off the desk or kitchen counter, and having them stay gone for a few months!  Yeah!!

     In less than 2 weeks, it will happen.  You know, IT.  That Day, the one where the contents of your child(ren)’s desk and classroom comes home in bags from school.  Ugh.  But we can handle this, I promise!  When the bags arrive, take half an hour and WITH YOUR CHILD’S ASSISTANCE:  

  1. Purge garbage immediately. 
  2. Review school supplies, set aside those items that can be used all summer or next year, and trash the rest (knowing you all will want some new things for Back-To-School. 
  3. Set aside the rest in a bin or bag, and put a date on the calendar for another hour with your child to review it.  If you are feeling really inspired, tackle this step right now, but we often want to go play on the first day of summer.

In a few weeks, when that scheduled hour arrives and you have both gained distance and perspective on the school year, decide what papers stay and what papers go.  The school papers fall into 4 or 5 categories:

  1. Tests and assessments: SAVE A FEW, especially the official reports from state testing.  And you can keep really big and meaningful projects, like book reports or essays. 
  2. Achievements, awards and progress reports: SAVE MOST, and just the last progress report if it is cumulative.  And there probably won’t be more than 10 or 15 of these.
  3. Daily school work and home work:  TOSS!
  4. Art and craft projects: TAKE PICTURES of big ones THEN PURGE the projects; save a few small ones.  If you struggle with all the Art, try: Creating a gallery on a clothes line strung across the bedroom with clips for papers; Creating a magnet wall with magnetic paint and a border, and clean it off once a month; buying a grouping of inexpensive frames, and swap out pictures every week or month.  Your little Picasso is wonderful, of course, but not every piece is a masterpiece.
  5. Other business of school (unless it is about the next Academic School Year): TOSS!

ACADEMIC BINDER:

     The important stuff in the first 2 categories goes into the Academic Binder.  Each child has an Academic Binder begun in preschool, with testing assessments (MAPS and ISATS), end-of-year grade reports, class pictures, award certificates, event programs for band and choir, special notes from teachers, etc.  My oldest recently completed an application for entrance into National Junior Honor Society.  He had to list awards and service projects from the current and past school years.  All the information he needed was in the Binder and it was huge help in putting together his application.  He enjoyed flipping through it, too.  When we start applying for high school honors and scholarships next year, we’ll be ready to go!

(Click here for a past blog on creating Binders)   and (Click here for past blogs on more Paper Management Topics)

Daily School Work and Art:

     My middle son would keep every paper he ever touched if I let him (But I don’t).  Some rainy summer day, we will go through this year’s school papers and whittle the big pile down to his true treasures:  reports or essays, big projects, math tests that earned him his math medal, etc.  We’ll wrap the keepers with a rubber band, or in a 9×13 envelope labeled with name, date and grade.  We’ll take pictures of any large or 3D art projects, and keep just the pictures.  We have a plastic box on the shelf with past years bundled in it already, and this year will be added to the top.  We have yet to review any past years, but he likes to know we kept some stuff and I respect his wishes (with limits).

Stuff as Treasures:

     Boundaries and limits are needed in the amount of papers and treasures you keep for your child.  With babies, we want to keep favorite outfits or toys or books, and keepsakes like greeting cards and growth records of course.  As the kids get older, they start to generate more keepsakes, like handmade mother’s day cards or pre-school papers, and they start to value stuff on their own, like event tickets or “treasures” like toys or balloons, etc.  Now that my boys are older, they choose to keep or toss their own stuff, in addition to stuff I deem necessary to keep, like grade reports and programs from their shows and concerts, and things.

            So, try for a sweater box size of keepsakes per year (OR LESS), regardless of what is in the box.  We keep less and less these days as keepsakes, but my boys accumulate their own “stuff” now.   Are you keeping things for you to review in 20 years, or for your child to review in 20 years?  There is no wrong answer, but if you think you are keeping things from them, ask yourself what you would want to keep from your own childhood (tip: NOT piles of old homework papers).

      As you keep papers or other treasures, WRITE A NOTE about the paper or item and leave it in the box for your child to read when he or she gets older, so you both remember in 20 years why you kept an item.  We like to see some things from our childhood, but we don’t want to be burdened with an attic full of things we don’t remember.  And always remember that activities and time spent together will be more important to your child than any stuff you may keep.

So, block out a little time in the next month to review those kid papers, purge most of them, and set some aside as to keep and treat as treasure.  And enjoy a few months with a clear kitchen counter or in-basket!

Take Care of Yourself, Today and Tomorrow

OK, everyone, raise your right hand (Yes, I mean it.).  Now reach around and pat yourself on the back. 

Because…. you are doing okay today.  You deserve it.  And because no one else may pat you on the back today.

I meet people every day who have self-critical internal sound tracks (a.k.a., the voices in your head).  And I, too, sometimes have to pause and realize when I have lost perspective and my own soundtrack has gotten crabby, critical or harsh.  I am pretty kind and forgiving with others, but very hard on myself.  Sound familiar?

Some client appointments start out with us giving ourselves a pat on the back for all the good we do.  We can’t all be good at everything, and I am happy to help my clients if they feel they are lacking the time, skills or motivation in the organizing department.  As I mentioned last week, though, we all have skills and good things about us, so keep those positive things in mind when re-writing that critical internal soundtrack!

Pat Today’s You on the back.  And be nice to Tomorrow’s You, too, with these ideas:     

Nurture positive relationships with your loved ones. 
As a teenager, I worked at a Hallmark Store in my hometown.  I bought and sent cards for everyone for everything!  I lost that habit for a while, but I have re-embraced the “personal note”, even if via email.  If you are thinking of someone, tell them.  If you are feeling grateful for someone, tell them that, too.  I have a stash of greeting cards in my desk, and I regularly send Thank-you notes and encourage (ok, require) my sons to send them, too.  A wonderful and crafty friend makes me hand-stamped note cards for the “Thinking of You” times.  It is always a good time to reach out to others.  

Invest in your Health. 
Take care of the health you were given.  I admit to having a lovely bakery Molasses cookie sitting next to me as I type this, but please don’t consider me a hypocrite.  It’s Mother’s Day as I write this, so the calories don’t count, right?

I hope the Future Me thanks Today’s Me for the sunscreen I apply every morning, the vitamin supplements I take, the good nutrition choices (aside from the cookie!) I make today.  I hope the 60 year-old Me smiles when she remembers the regularly scheduled doctors appointments and screenings I make time for today, and the exercise I try to fit in my busy schedule.  I know tomorrow’s Me is worth the time and effort today.

Don’t hold grudges.
Perhaps I am lazy, but I can’t seem to hold grudges.   They require too much effort and score keeping, and really, I have better things to do with my time.  I’m not suggesting we forgive and forget immediately, and or become a doormat.  Trust me, I am also not always the kind and loving person God calls me to be.  But sitting here, I can’t remember why the 20 year-old Me broke up with boyfriends long ago, nor can I muster negative feelings for friends and enemies from yesteryear.  I may feel indifference, perhaps, but not animosity.   I assume any wrong-doers from my past have evolved, as I think I have.  And if they haven’t, well, they still aren’t worth my time.  

By all means, learn from life experiences.  Then move on.

Pay attention to our Youth.
Our future lies in the hands of our young people.  Cliché?  Yes.  But still true.  Find out what kids are doing and why, and perhaps it is a really good idea you should try, too!   In a recent conversation, a parent said he would never bother to learn to text, that his daughter would just have to communicate to him as he chose.  This made me cringe, as I want to embrace any and all ways my kids have to communicate with me, so they will continue to do so!  Music, technology, books, ideas, style, I learn all sorts of things from my kids and their friends!

Nurture independence in your children, too, so that you will have something to learn from them, just as they learn from you. 

If you are a parent, recognize the importance of what you do today with your kids.  We can’t control who they will become, or what they may be when they grow up.  But we can control our choices today and how our relationship with them will thrive and evolve.

Get Organized.
You knew I would have to work that in to the conversation, right?  It is both Who I Am and What I Do, after all.  Lend Tomorrow’s You a hand, and Organize today.

I was called out-of-town last week, to help a family member with a house crisis (things are clearing up well, thanks.).  As I hopped on the expressway, I was so glad that Yesterday’s Me had:

  • Maintained client and personal contact information in my smart phone for making calls from another state;
  • Gassed up the car while running errands;
  • Set up the coffee maker on a timer for 6 am (a lovely way to wake up!);
  • Packed a nutritious, weight watchers friendly portable breakfast and travel snack bag;
  • Stopped at the library and picked up a book-on-tape for the ride;
  • Charged my electronics (cell phone and blue tooth piece, IPod); and
  • Laid out little league uniforms and baseball bags for the games.  
  • Last week, she also stocked the cabinets and freezer with food and set up a menu plan to make things run more smoothly.
  • Long term, yesterday’s Me also taught my boys to make breakfast, load and unload the dishwasher, and take care of things even though teaching takes more time than just doing it myself.  God bless the Me of yesterday!

Spend a little time today taking care of yourself and organizing your world, and you will thank yourself tomorrow!