The Fast Declutter Blog

Summer is drawing to a close.  Did you get all those great vegetables put up for the coming winter.  Where I live we have a lot of fresh produce that

photo by enfotolia.com

comes in during this time of the year and I try to freeze some of it.  We also make a bulk beef purchase every year that lasts for many months, often for a year at the time.  My freezer is often very crowded.  I stood looking at my side by side freezer compartment today and decided, ‘needs major work.’

WHERE DO I START ORGANIZING A SIDE BY SIDE FREEZER?

Good question.  OK, so thinking back to all we have reviewed over the last few months:

• making organizing a habit
• consider what the space is used for
• keep it simple stupid
• two boxes and a bag
• keep it cheap
• do an internet review for ideas

All the other ideas I have in my head, the internet review of organizing side by side freezer space was helpful.  At the Container Store site, they have some nifty baskets that will fit nicely on my shelves.  Of course this led this cheap soul on a scavenger hunt through my house, garage and attic for likely subs that would cost me no extra.  Fortunately, I found a couple of willing stand-ins.

A review of organizational sites was handy, also.  At a dailyspark site, put out by the Spark folks, they through in info on why along with the how of freezer organization.  I am a huge fan of the Spark people.  You will benefit from an examination of their philosophy.  But anyway, they had some good suggestions.  The folks at thriftyfun also had some good suggestions.  The cloth bag idea is a new one to me, but I might have to try that.  There was another good article by the ehow people, they are usually a clearly stated, informative reference.  It is no surprise that there are zillions of sites with info on this topic, I did a thorough review and found there doesn’t seem to be any great revelations out there.

Time to move ahead with that side by side freezer organization.  This is my plan:

• empty the space
• use the plastic garbage bag for all that unrecognizable or out of date stuff
• find freezer friendly containers to corral the little stuff
• Do it!
• If this try does not stay organized, I will review what is not working and tweak it until I am able to stay organized in this side by side freezer.

It’s not rocket science, its just another habit I will develop until it becomes second nature.

Cool, Huh?

FDL

WHY NOT?

image by addingup.org

Which are you talking about:  your feelings or your thoughts.  I think there is a difference. So much to do with your feelings are difficult to leash.  If possible, you can develop the habit of maintaining a positive outlook on the world or you can choose to grasp at the negative.  Those are choices we can make.  Habits we develop.  Our other thought can either develop along organized or disorganized pathways.  Which one have you chosen to develop.  Organized or disorganized?  I am continuing to develop the organized pathways.  Whew! What a job that is.

You find yourself at a cross roads.  Late for a meeting because you forgot about it.  Missed a payment on a credit card because the bill got lost?  What was that plumbers name, and he was really good, came when he was supposed to and everything.  Someone in the family has a birthday this month, but who?  The list goes on and on.  These are simple items that belong on a list or calendar somewhere.  But where?

A little research found so many options, it is overwhelming.  This is my plan.  On my to do list for the upcoming week, I am going to allow time for picking an app that will help with all these things, and more.  Just for a simple, relaxing look at what someone else used to propel them to locate such a system, go to this site about organizing mental clutter.  Not only is this an interesting little read, you will probably recognize yourself and feel completed to make some changes.

After this nice read, don’t get led back to chaos by the choices, just choose one.  At zen apps there is the inevitable list of what sounds like terrific choices.  Of course, I was quickly overtaken by too many choices, hence the decision to pick one and go with it.

And then I found diigo.  I really think this is the one for me.  It has lots of really cool sounding stuff.  I am going to jump in and try it.

Talk to you on the other side,

FDL

YEAH, AGAIN

When last I looked at the whole list making thing, it was the list we make to get things done-today.  Well, of course, there are many other uses and apps for lists.  Amazon has developed that wonderful shopping list thing that is cool and so user friendly.  Other shopping sites have piggy-backed onto this concept because it works!  As a confessed hard-core maker of the columned get-er-done stuff, I keep running across other places this idea is utilized.  That book I blogged about, List Manifesto, has really gotten my consciousness up.

Some interesting web-sites out there, that look really useful though I have not personally tried them (I will and let you know how it goes) are, for instance, tadalist.com.  These folks have some really cool apps, all free and available in a wide variety of formats and for personal as well as business use.  One app that caught my eye was the one that allows you to send a list to someone, like your spouse.  Can’t you just imagine how exciting that would be:  receiving an electronic to do list from your honey?   Uh-huh.  I think it would take some very mature, committed adults to take that one on the chin.  Now, sending one to your kids, that makes perfect sense.

Another place that looked intriguing was listgator.    Also free, they let you make your lists and either keep them personal or share them.  What a clever idea to have people give you their wish lists all year.  Do you see the usefulness of this?  All through the year you think of things that could go on your ‘wish list’ and then time for the actual gift purchasing rolls around and you can’t remember what you wanted.  Happens to me every year for my birthday and at Christmas.

Of course, there are some great articles that list the listing sites.  What a shock!  This column lists 40 of the places to go, including those I mentioned above.  Another with good content was an article put out by the folks at NPR.  They spend some time telling us why we all like lists so much.  They seem to think we are list obsessed.  Imagine that.

Join me in checking out these cool apps for getting more organized with your listmaking.  Maybe we could get organized after all.

See you again soon.

FDL

http://mashable.com/2008/11/20/list-management/

http://tadalist.com/        from ‘making lists’ on google

AND GETTING ORGANIZED

photo by trance-formed.org

Listening to a video about self esteem and how this factors into your whole life, brought me to thoughts about this personality trait and getting organized.  Self esteem is related to wanting happiness for yourself, and in fact, whether you feel you deserve happiness in your life.  As you may have noticed, there are a multitude of sources offering help for those with low self esteem.

If you have a problem with low self esteem, do you think this effects your ability or motivation to get organized?  There are plenty of sources that equate these two problems: getting organized and low self esteem.  In the article, 5 Benefits of Getting Organized,  the article offers excellent reasons to give this idea merit, including increasing yourself esteem, but also, the more commonly held notion that getting organized reduces stress.

Another internet post that equates the problems of self esteem and organization is in 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Self Esteem.  In this motivational treatise, the author links the two traits and makes a really good case for her position on the topic.  Also offered are doable solutions that are sensible and thought provoking.  You will come away from this read feeling better-that’s right, with a ‘raised self-esteem’.

One of my original posts about getting organized or de-cluttering your home and your life, dealt with this topic.  I reintroduce the thought because of the video I mentioned in the beginning of this post.  An internet guru, Eben Pagan, who has produced self help videos and products, has a new product launch dealing with self esteem.  The pre-launch video that you can access thru this link makes a good case for dealing with the personality traits that affect your self esteem if you really want to ‘make it’ in life.

It is the feeling of whether you deserve happiness that is a factor in low self esteem that caused me to stop and ponder what this has to do with getting organized.  You can set goals, life fulfilling and empowering, but if you have a deep seated feeling that you don’t deserve a better life, then you will simply torpedo your efforts.  Tying these two thoughts together, self esteem and the often problematic ‘getting organized’, may give you pause as it has me.

Do you like your self?  Do you think you have self worth?  Do you really think you can make a difference in your life?

If you don’t honestly believe in you, you have lost before you start.  You will never attain your goals.

Think about it.

‘Til next time,

FDL

art by pugbread.com

If you are doing much internet work, then you are writing-right?  The Google folks say that you don’t have to remember everything, just ‘Google it’.  I use that philosophy.  If you are writing and using Google and searching and writing and you find yourself needing the proper usage of a term or phrase or when to use that coma or hyphen, what do you do?  After reading many references to the New York Times Manual of Style  and Usage, I finally found a copy at the local library.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MANUAL OF STYLE AND USAGE

It’s terrific.  I do like words, I admit it.  I also like to know the proper usage of a word for writing or in daily speech.  This book is a great reference whether you consider yourself an ink slinger or just happen to be doing a lot of writing, this is a tool you could utilize.  It is easy to use, with many popular words and phrases listed in alphabetical order.  Another handy feature is the lists, again in alphabetical order, of the different titles of military rank, how to address (or refer to) professionals such as diplomats or how to write the title of a university.  Open to any page in the book and you will find fodder for thought or well, usage.

DID YOU KNOW

‘flier can mean a pilot, a fast train or a leaflet.  Not a flyer.’

‘Fishers Island (in New York), but it is Fisher Island in Florida.’

‘forgo or forego-forgo means refrain.  forego, relatively rare,  means precede.’

‘49ers, There is no apostrophe in the name of the football team.  And a person who went o California in search of gold in 1849 is a forty-niner.’

SEE WHAT I MEAN

It really is cool all the things you can look up in this reference tool.  You just never know when you might need to look some of that stuff up.  You” ll be ready.

See you again soon,

FDL

THE SIMPLE CHECK LIST

ART BY SHEIKH TUHIN

Do you make a list of things to do today or this week?  I am a serious list maker.  I have found that a list for the day and also for the week is a great idea.  I become so absorbed in tasks at work, that when I stop for lunch, sometimes it is easy to forget what I was planning ‘to do’ during my lunch break.  And so, I use lists.  I often make one on Sunday night for the coming week.  My weekends are spent doing work in fields totally separate from the work I do the rest of the week.  The list I make on Sunday night keeps the things that still need to be done fresh in my mind.  That way, I do not end up on Friday afternoon without progress made on my week-end projects.

All this led me to an interest in a book, The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.  The title is attention getting to a veteran list maker and sure enough, it’s a good read.  The author begins with the premise that our world has given us more know-how than we can properly deliver.  In almost any area of knowledge, he is a medical doctor, we continue to fail in consistently executing the correct outcome.  He was appalled when examining his own profession and the inconsistencies in delivering the highest standard of medical care available.

That alone is thought provoking.  This author does a good job developing his case for list making to better utilize the advances in current knowledge.  He uses examples that are well told, interesting and give insight into areas of knowledge that sound pretty complicated.  Things like constructing 100 story buildings that don’t fall down.  Flying passenger jets.  Areas I have very little actual knowledge about as an insider (I don’t think being a passenger on a jet makes me qualified to fly one).  At the end of the book I continue to know very little about complicated things such as surgery or building 100 story buildings.  Gawande shows how these areas of expertise are broken down into simple lists to get the job done effectively-without failure.

My lists don’t involve huge projects utilizing a complex base of knowledge.  What is interesting is that the lists being used to keep passenger planes flying without failure are not necessarily complicated, either.  The ultimate goal is complicated and requires incredible expertise to utilize each list.  Gawande does a very good job of ‘listing’ his way to making his case for that original premise, that the lowly list plays an important role in our complicated world.  The simple list helps me keep totally separate parts of my life moving forward and keeps jets flying passengers safely, even when the unusual happens.

In essence, a list can, at a moments notice, put simple steps to follow at the front of your thought processes and get the job done.  For me, I can turn my mind from one engrossing task to another without having to rethink the process.  For jet pilots, the simple list avoids doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and keeps safety standards amazingly high.

Its a good read, moves quickly, is short but well done.  Check it out.

FDL

IT’S JUST TOO MUCH

The internet is such a wonderful thing.  Like anything else, it can be too much.  I used to be amazed at how many hits one got from a simple request on Google.  Not anymore.  There doesn’t seem to be a topic about which you don’t get a gazillion bits of information.  Do you sometimes feel it is all overwhelming?  Not surprisingly, there are books coming out giving us some guidance on how to navigate this information overload.  Can it be done?

Can we find balance?

First, we have to recognize there is a problem.

• We disorganized people will have trouble recognizing when we are overloaded.
• If you procrastinate, is it because you are overwhelmed with your choices?
• Do you ever turn off everything?  Everything.  Do the figurative hide in a closet with a blanket over your head?
• Is your daily ‘to do list’ unrealistic?

Just think about these things.  I have been reading a book, Life on the Wire by Todd Duncan.   In this compelling book, the author presents his case for what Seth Godin calls interruption marketing.  Duncan rightly, I think, offers that we will only have more ‘interruptions’ in our lives and need to learn to deal with them to create our own harmony.  He is offering us guidance to avoid burnout in our path to success despite the overload of information we face for even a simple task.

These ideas strike a chord with me as I seek organization in my life.  For me, it is so easy to feel overloaded with information.  Duncan, in Life on the Wire, offers practical steps to help you analyze the steps you take in the path of life that can help you find harmony.  He recognizes everyone is different and their pursuits of a fulfilling life will therefore be different.  That is the goal after all, though, don’t you think?

The pursuit of a fulfilling life?

FDL

OF ORGANIZATION

I was congratulating myself on how tidy the house is at the end of a busy week-end.  Usually, the place would be pretty messy after spending two days doing everything but housework.  But I realized that here it is Sunday night and time to begin prepping for a busy work week and, Damn, if the old home place isn’t in too much chaos.

I then happened onto a blog post by Leo Babauta of considerable blogging fame who had posted an old blog about the habit of ‘now’.  Like most of this organizational stuff, it’s not a new concept or even revolutionary thinking.  It does happen to be what I have been trying to get in the habit of doing:  NOT PROCRASTINATING.

You may think not doing household chores for days on end is actually procrastinating.  But it is rationalizing that there were more important things to do than vacuum.  All I made time for this week-end as far as the house, was keep things in their places, wash and put clothes away rather than let them pile up, and then just generally move on.  I maintained the status quo.  That is very good for me.

I am now working on a couple of big projects not part of my daily job.  As soon as I finish writing this little bit I will be ready to kick back and relax.   But right now I am sipping a glass of nice white wine and patting myself on the back for reaching Sunday night with some major accomplishments under my belt.

The house is not exactly cleaner than it was on Friday but it is tidy.  I’m good with that.  Friday was a hell of a day at work and I escaped into non work related projects all week-end.

Ahh, I am refreshed and ready to face the grind tomorrow.

How  about you?  Did you have a good week-end?

We’ll talk again soon,

FDL

BACK TO SCHOOL PRE-TEST FOR THE PANTRY

photo by babygadget.net

I’ve written a bit about back to school planning.  Do you find you cook differently in the summer from other times of the year?  I do.  I want the oven on as little as possible when it’s hot outside.  When you have children at home, the activities you have to get someone to increase exponentially as they head back to school.  These two things alone change your pantry needs.

The Pantry Ready to Start School Quiz

• What are your ‘go to’ dishes on busy week nights?
• Have you considered what you’ll fix for school lunches?
• Have you considered what changes you can make to encourage your family to eat more nutritious foods?
• Is it time to pass on some duties to these growing children-they need to learn to cook sometime.  Why not now?

You may not see the need to think about this aspect of back to school planning.  Think about it though. The kitchen pantry, be it a shelf or a spacious walk in affair, is the food you keep on hand and it matters.  Whether you are trying to be more organized or even if you are just trying to save money-knowing what foods are in the kitchen is really big stuff.

If You Are Trying to be More Organized

Back to school is a time when folks with children at home have to adjust their schedules to accommodate transportation to and from school and activities, and generally mess up the life you had finally gotten under control.  The larger your family, the more often you find that those time killing mini-emergencies occur.  This means that you are more frequently finding yourself in the kitchen with not an idea what to feed that family for dinner.  And you had been doing so well, planning your days, knowing what supper you would prepare, then KaBoom!  School days happened!

Trying to Save Money

If you are trying to save money to either get out of debt or for a really cool trip, or whatever, wasting money on expensive take-out food during the week is a waste.  You are wasting your hard earned money for high calorie, expensive food your family does not need.

If either of these scenarios fits you, then read on.

There are some really good websites out there to help you decide what should be in your pantry.  One I have learned a lot from is  http://organizedhome.com/kitchen-tips/organized-pantry-beginner-guide-pantry-pride.  From this site you will tips on what should be in your pantry specific to your family.

The whole back to school thing can be such a tough thing to handle for us less that organized people.  Planning ahead always makes me better prepared to handle the stuff I didn’t see coming.  That sounds crazy, but it’s true.

We’ll talk again soon,

FDL

It’s a Good Time to Work on Staying Organized

And besides, there are so many tips out there.  We were all so excited to have school over for the year.  No more homework to fuss about, no more schedules to work around, and on and on.  Then here we are, facing another school year, yet again.  Heavy sigh…OK, let’s get serious about staying organized, even when the odds are overwhelmingly against us.  Just like in setting up your pantry, our needs are individual and the ideas that strike home and seem useful to me may not be the same for you.  These are some organizational tips I gleaned from several sites I have been perusing:

• Use one shelf of your refrigerator to put lunch items that were to be used only to pack school lunches for a week.  That way, the shelf and the items were in sufficient quantity for a week of lunches.
• A lot of folks recommend making lunches the night before.
• This was a great idea I never thought of: make a copy of the medical release form.  The information doesn’t change and it’s much easier to copy from a list.
• Make sure no new immunizations are needed before your child starts school.  These needs are changing as new vaccines are released.  You do not want to be caught up in the last minute rush at the doctor’s office or health department.
• Make those doctor and dentist appointments in the summer-it’s so much easier to do before school starts.
• This is a good one: have an emergency back  up plan for when the little ones have to leave school early-whatever the reason, illness or inclement weather.
• Don’t forget to check the kids’ school websites.  They list supplies needed so that you can shop at your leisure rather than with the hoards.
• Check out the medicine cabinet.  Be sure you have on hand the over the counter medicines you will need when you need to be ‘nurse mom.’

These are only the items that jumped out at me.  You will see others that will help you stay organized as the kids start back to school.  A couple of the sites were http://www.home-organizing-ideas.com/10organizingtipsforbacktoschool.html#kids%20artwork, and http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/gettingstarted/a/backhousehold.htm.

Check out these sites and share what jumps out at you.  We will stay organized even though the kids are going back to school.  We have made improvements over the summer.  Don’t you think?

See you gain soon,

FDL