Today we're decluttering and organising office supplies

We're decluttering and organising our home offices this month.

Here are the first 3 challenges:

1. decluttering mail and loose papers
2. that declutter at least 5 books or magazines
3. weed through at least 5 files - I also shared my top 5 filing tips

It's not too late if you didn't get around to any of the challenges - start anywhere with just 15 minutes a day.

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1. Today, we're going to go through our office supplies and toss:

• anything that doesn't work
• dry pens, markers, etc.
• freebies you received that you're not using
• duplicate supplies

If things are in good working order and you just don't have any use for them, put them in a separate box and donate to a local school.

2. Also go around the house and return items to where they belong. If your stapler is in the kitchen for some reason, bring it back to your home office.

Incidentally, I do believe that you should have duplicates of some supplies. I have 6 pairs of scissors and we use all of them - 2 in the study, 1 with the sewing kit, 1 in the kitchen and 1 each in our two bathrooms.

(if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering this week :)

Are you up for today's decluttering challenge?

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7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

What did you declutter this week?

What would you like to declutter next month?

Tomorrow is the last day we'll be decluttering our home offices.

I'm thinking we should do our computers next month....what do you think? Email, photos, documents, blogs, bookmarks, etc.

Or otherwise, what would you prefer?

Ask the organiser - help with business filing

When people join my mailing list, I send a question out in the autoresponder with their Organising Success Pack that says something like, "tell me your biggest organising challenge".

I love it when people respond because not only do I get to know them better, but I also get blog topics :)


Amanda in Australia writes...

I have one monster thing I still need help with and that is organising my filing cabinet.

I start and have done well I thought..but I have problems with working out what headings to have to make this job easier if you get me...I mean..I have one hanging file marked 'phone' and in there I can quickly put all my paid phone bills..and another for 'House Rates' etc..and 'Electricity' those are easy..but I have so many other things to do with my work that I have no idea where to put them under what heading..that I pile them altogether and then can't find them if I ever need them again.

Invoices for example..do I file them under supplier name? It sounds stupid as I was a receptionist and can file really well..it's the working out the filing system that I am not having luck with at my home..how come I can do this at work and yet when it's my own I am stumped???

My paper clutter is still my biggest issue. Ok..well best keep moving..you asked what my biggest challenge still is..there ya go!

Here's my suggestion for Amanda


1. File the same way you think
Ask yourself, "if I were looking for this piece of paper, what would I look under?"

I happen to know Amanda makes hand-made soaps and toiletries so if she has several suppliers, maybe she'd like to have a file binder called Suppliers, and then have separate dividers to file according to the individual names.

Something to look out for is this: you don't want to be switching file dividers all the time. E.g. I file my insurance by Homeowners, Content, Car, Life so that even if I switch underwriters (as I did at the beginning of this year), I don't have to rewrite the headings. Yes, I'm lazy.

In Amanda's case, especially if I only have one supplier per type of material, I would have one divider per material supplier.

2. First general, then more specific
Take a pile of those papers and a separate page to make notes. For each piece of paper, write down a general category and then specifically, what you may want to call it.

E.g. a credit card statement from Absa would be general - credit card; specific - Absa.

Go through the whole pile and soon themes will emerge. You might realise that you have 3 credit cards so you need 3 dividers, but only one essential oils supplier, so you just need 1 divider for the essential oils stuff.

3. Keep your system fluid
Before you make a new file or filing section, check to see if you already have something similar. If you realise that you don't like the old name you chose, change it.

Also, if you're a person who hates filing and you know full well you're never going to punch any papers, get hanging files so you need to just drop the papers inside. See the picture above for examples of hanging files

Nothing is set in stone - after all, this is YOUR filing system and must work for you.

These buddy drawer systems also work well for the lazy filer. I have the big drawers but you get systems with drawers about one-third the size too which would suit invoices, etc. a lot better.

Don't forget to sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar

Just a courtesy reminder that this event happens today at 11am EST.

And remember, if you can't make this particular time or day, you can book ANY 4 HOURS with me and still get your office organised, so there really is no excuse!

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Did you know that the average person wastes one hour a day looking for things?

That translates to over 6 weeks a year.

6 weeks!

That's time you could have spent with your family, marketing your business, seeing more clients, making more money, going on holiday, etc, etc.

Don't let disorganisation keep you from living your best life.

Join me on Tuesday 24th Feb from 11am - 3pm EST or 6 - 10pm South Africa time (GMT+2)



We'll spend four hours together and I'll teach you all the tips and tools of the trade as you organise your home office.

At the end of our time together you will have...

• a well-ordered, organised desk and office plan with clear zones


• a system to reduce your email overload


• an easy, step-by-step plan to prioritise all your projects


• at least 3 clear ways to make your computer do common tasks, automatically


• a clear, simple way to deal with all the paper in your life
  


• ideas on how to maximise your office and storage space


• and much, much more

I'm not going to leave you high and dry afterwards though.

I realise your office might need a lot more work than just four hours so I'm giving you free 60 days' unlimited email support while you take action on your plan (I charge my coaching clients $97 for this kind of access to me).

You also get my 7 easy steps to organise your office ebook and MP3 system to support you long after the seminar has ended so that any time you need a recap, you can go directly to your challenging area and get help.

“I used to spend my days always working on email and never getting anything done. Thanks to Marcia's suggestions, I now can’t believe everything I get done in one day!

It’s allowed me to have a very successful business while working only 15-20 hours per week. I love that her techniques have given me the freedom to spend time with my sons and husband.

Thanks to her business organizing strategies I have doubled my productivity which has in turn doubled my business income.
Jennifer Haubein

www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com

The nitty gritty details

Date: Tuesday 24 February 2009

Time: 11am - 3pm Eastern Standard Time/ 6 -10 pm South African Time (GMT+2)

What do you need: Telephone, pen and handbook which will be emailed to you

Format: By telephone - you can also dial in through your computer if you have Skype and just listen in (great option for readers outside the US)

(if you don't want to be restricted to this time, you can book ANY 4 HOURS with me that are most convenient for you)

So how does this work?

Once you register and pay, I'll send you the access information and the 27-page handbook for the day.

You can call the phone number, listen to me speak and chat back with questions or comments.

On the day, at the top of every hour, I'll teach for 15 - 20 minutes and the rest of the hour, we (the entire class) will all action that section of our offices.

What are the sections we'll tackle?

11am How to organise your desk for maximum functionality and efficiency

12pm Clear the paper clutter and create a system for the flow of paper in your office

1pm Conquer your email, set up folders and organise your inbox

2pm Prioritise all your projects and develop a system for planning your month, week and day.

2:50 - 3pm Wrap-up and how to maintain your organised office

The best thing about this seminar is that you're learning and doing so at the end of the session, you have a beautifully organised and functional office!

Your investment: only $97 (actual value $267)

Let's recap. What do you get ...

• LIVE teaching from Marcia Francois, time management and organising expert


• LIVE group coaching


• 60 days' unlimited email support


• 27-page handbook


• MP3 audio downloads of all the teaching


• 7 easy steps to organise your office e-book and 3 X MP3 downloads*

* This will be emailed to you straight after the seminar because I don't want you to get overwhelmed before the time!

You, too, can have an email box that looks like this

If you don't want 7 easy steps to organise your office, then the price is only $67

The winner of the Finding Balance ecourse is...

is Charity, CEO who wrote...

I could definitely use this. I need something to give me a direction and to give me a better idea of what I am doing wrong. My house, business and life is a mess--help!

Incidentally, Charity is the same person who asked that excellent question about the best handbag size last year and is therefore a gal after my own heart :)


Well, Charity, are you in for a treat!

**********************************

But the rest of you don't have to miss out.

Kim's giving all my readers 27% off the regular price of the ecourse. But please remember, this is for TWO DAYS only.

This offer will expire on Wednesday 25th at 2pm EST (that's 9pm South African time).

This e-course is perfect for you if you're a WAHM or a blogger who makes money from their blog, or really, any sort of mom with a business leaning.

Work-life balance is hard enough but when it's your own business, it can get even harder as you juggle multiple balls in the air.

Get your copy of the 7-part e-course, Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur Mom, and get the balance back in your life.

**********************************

For those of you who have the balance thing sorted out (or mostly sorted), please share your best tip in the comments.

I'll go first...

The best way that I keep balanced is I have VERY clear boundaries with my time. I know what I want my life to look like (relaxed and lots of lazing around :)) so I have no problem saying no to too many commitments.

Over to you!

A filing challenge - are you up for it?

We're decluttering and organising our home offices this month.

Last week your challenge was to declutter at least 5 books or magazines. And boy, that wasn't a very popular challenge :)

It's not too late if you didn't get around to it - I just want you to get used to the idea that not everything you ever bought is sacred :) You CAN let go of some of your books.

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Now today, we're going to do something that may be a bit more fun for some of you - weeding through files.

The goal this week is to go through at least 5 files. While you're doing that, ask yourself these four questions:

1. why am I keeping all these papers?
2. what's the worst thing that will happen if I toss it and I need it again?
3. do I really need to keep this?
4. am I keeping it because it's a habit?
5. is this working for me? (a la Dr Phil)
   

(if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering this week :)

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Here is my contribution for this week...


I have one household file, one for the cars, one for medical and one personal. That's it.

I keep my filing streamlined in these 5 ways:

• I only keep 3 months' worth of most statements, except for our water and electricity (I have everything since we moved into this house) because things go wrong on that account from one month to the next. The Jhb residents understand this all too well :)
• I refuse to expand to more files so the paper is contained to just the 4 mentioned above.
  
• When my files get too full, I take 5 minutes and quickly declutter a couple of sections.
• I really hate filing so I only keep what I absolutely have to keep.
• When I change insurance companies, I get rid of everything from the old company after a month with the new underwriter.
  

So, are you up for today's decluttering challenge?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar on Tuesday 24 Feb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

How many files did you declutter this week?

This is your chance to FINALLY organise your office

Did you know that the average person wastes one hour a day looking for things?

That translates to over 6 weeks a year.

6 weeks!

That's time you could have spent with your family, marketing your business, seeing more clients, making more money, going on holiday, etc, etc.

Don't let disorganisation keep you from living your best life.

Join me on Tuesday 24th Feb from 11am - 3pm EST or 6 - 10pm South Africa time (GMT+2)



We'll spend four hours together and I'll teach you all the tips and tools of the trade as you organise your home office.

At the end of our time together you will have...

• a well-ordered, organised desk and office plan with clear zones


• a system to reduce your email overload


• an easy, step-by-step plan to prioritise all your projects


• at least 3 clear ways to make your computer do common tasks, automatically


• a clear, simple way to deal with all the paper in your life
  


• ideas on how to maximise your office and storage space


• and much, much more

I'm not going to leave you high and dry afterwards though.

I realise your office might need a lot more work than just four hours so I'm giving you free 60 days' unlimited email support while you take action on your plan (I charge my coaching clients $97 for this kind of access to me).

You also get my 7 easy steps to organise your office ebook and MP3 system to support you long after the seminar has ended so that any time you need a recap, you can go directly to your challenging area and get help.

“I used to spend my days always working on email and never getting anything done. Thanks to Marcia's suggestions, I now can’t believe everything I get done in one day!

It’s allowed me to have a very successful business while working only 15-20 hours per week. I love that her techniques have given me the freedom to spend time with my sons and husband.

Thanks to her business organizing strategies I have doubled my productivity which has in turn doubled my business income.
Jennifer Haubein

www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com

The nitty gritty details

Date: Tuesday 24 February 2009

Time: 11am - 3pm Eastern Standard Time/ 6 -10 pm South African Time (GMT+2)

What do you need: Telephone, pen and handbook which will be emailed to you

Format: By telephone - you can also dial in through your computer if you have Skype and just listen in (great option for readers outside the US)

(if you don't want to be restricted to this time, you can book ANY 4 HOURS with me that are most convenient for you)

So how does this work?

Once you register and pay, I'll send you the access information and the 27-page handbook for the day.

You can call the phone number, listen to me speak and chat back with questions or comments.

On the day, at the top of every hour, I'll teach for 15 - 20 minutes and the rest of the hour, we (the entire class) will all action that section of our offices.

What are the sections we'll tackle?

11am How to organise your desk for maximum functionality and efficiency

12pm Clear the paper clutter and create a system for the flow of paper in your office

1pm Conquer your email, set up folders and organise your inbox

2pm Prioritise all your projects and develop a system for planning your month, week and day.

2:50 - 3pm Wrap-up and how to maintain your organised office

The best thing about this seminar is that you're learning and doing so at the end of the session, you have a beautifully organised and functional office!

Your investment: only $97 (actual value $267)

Let's recap. What do you get ...

• LIVE teaching from Marcia Francois, time management and organising expert


• LIVE group coaching


• 60 days' unlimited email support


• 27-page handbook


• MP3 audio downloads of all the teaching


• 7 easy steps to organise your office e-book and 3 X MP3 downloads*

* This will be emailed to you straight after the seminar because I don't want you to get overwhelmed before the time!

You, too, can have an email box that looks like this

Office Organising Makeover - Week 6 - dealing with obstacles

Anne here.

Confession time: I quit. I am a quitter.

It isn’t any of the self-justifying excuses I could throw out at you, it is just that I quit.

I did Steps 1-4. I had already done step 5 last fall so I limped through that one by just updating and decluttering. And I quit before I got to steps 6 and 7.

I know what you are thinking. What a loser! Way to go Anne!

I know, I know.

And the guilt is killing me.

I am so close to being finished that it is just insane to stop now. But that is how I operate. Oh, I might call it something else, but it is quitting none-the-less.

• I have plastic-canvas coasters that are 45% completed... from Christmas 7 years ago.
  
• I have 20% of a baby blanket started in 2000.
  
• I have thousands of dollars in scrapbook supplies that will *eventually* get mated with photos and stuck into albums.
  
• I have thrown away so much food because I got through 2 days of Freezer cooking and gave up before I got to the chicken day.
  
• I clean the entire kitchen and ignore the crumbs on the table.
  

Yep, I quit a lot.

But that is part of what this is helping me with.... the new system is so easy that I feel stupid for not using it.

And I already identified that it is easy that makes me use things, so what more excuse is there?

Loss of interest?

Could be... but no, I have enjoyed this process.

And you have all been so incredibly supportive.

So I quit quitting.

ANYWAY... I am working beyond belief to catch up and have a post for you all.

I need to share with you how I got off my butt and out of my own rut and completed all 7 steps and blogged about it. (that was a run-on sentence, I am pretty sure about that.)

Look for my final post next week with all the details.

Thanks for understanding!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

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Hi everyone, Marcia here

I love Anne's honesty in this post; don't you?

But more importantly, I want to use this as an organising lesson so we can all benefit.

The truth is that we ALL face obstacles in life when we try to do worthwhile things, whether they're organising projects, getting fit, eating more nutritious food or just improving our relationships.

That's life.

The way to overcome those obstacles is to realise that it's normal and brainstorm ways to navigate those obstacles.

Think about it like this - when you're getting your house painted, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's going to be messy and smelly while you're painting but afterwards, you're going to have a gorgeous, fresh room/house.

In the same way, the road to our dreams always has an obstacle or eleven :)

A couple of ways you can navigate those obstacles is:

1. realise that obstacles happen to everybody - it's not because you're a bad person, lack discipline, etc.
   
2. get some help (if you can) just to get you over the hump - even someone just sitting there and encouraging you is help
   
3. make yourself accountable to someone (I have the utmost faith in Anne and I know she will finish, and she will finish strong, but I do know that part of it is because she's made herself accountable to 600-odd of my blog readers. There's something about that accountability that propels you forward toward your goals)

Now, over to you.

Post about any project you've started where you've encountered obstacles

I have a fabulous giveaway for all entrepreneurs or WAHMs

Well, are you in for a treat!

My friend, Kim Reddington, has just launched a new e-course and she's kindly offered a free copy to one of my blog readers.

This e-course is perfect for you if you're a WAHM or a blogger who makes money from their blog, or really, any sort of mom with a business leaning.

Work-life balance is hard enough but when it's your own business, it can get even harder as you juggle multiple balls in the air.

And this is where this e-course comes in.

Kim's written a 7-part e-course, Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur Mom, specifically to help you get that balance back in your life.


The rules

1. Please make sure we can find you so either leave your email in your comment or make sure your email comes through on the comment.
2. All you have to do to get an entry into the contest is comment on this post and answer this question:

   What is your biggest challenge in trying to find a balance among your business, your family, and your own needs?

3. The contest runs from Mon - Fri this week and closes on 20th at 3pm EST.
4. Kim will pick the winner and I'll post the winner's name on Monday 23rd. If the winner doesn't respond to my email within 48 hours, we'll pick another winner.
5. You get an extra entry if you blog about the contest on your own blog and link back here. Make sure you leave an extra comment and tell us where you blogged it, okay?

Let the games begin!

Oooh, a touchy subject - the book challenge

Remember that we're decluttering and organising our home offices this month. Today your challenge is to declutter at least 5 books or magazines.

When I finish reading a book, I rate it out of 10. If the book is an 8 or higher, I may keep it.

Most of them get recycled to the secondhand bookshop so that my bookshelves always stay neat.


(if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering :)

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Here is my contribution for this week...

3 packets of 3 books each... I find that they give me more money or credit for the books if there are smaller batches, so I take them back in threes.

Also, if you're wondering about the business card...most times the book buyer isn't there so this way it's easy for them to phone me back and tell me how much they'll give me. I'm all about making things easy!

I leave these packets in my launch pad so I can just grab and go when I run errands.



How many books did you declutter today?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar on Tuesday 24 Feb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

How many books did you declutter this week?

Okay, 3 quick things

1. there's a organising poll on the right sidebar under the challenges for February and I'd dearly love you to quickly vote. Thanks :)
2. also on the right sidebar, below the poll after the sign-up box, I put a list of the most popular posts on this blog. Have a read if you're a new(ish) reader.
3. tomorrow our Friday Declutter Challenge is to declutter 5 or more books or magazines. who's up for it???

Office Organising Makeover - Week 5 - e-clutter

E-clutter

A few years ago we wouldn't have known that phrase, but now it makes so much sense.

Everyone is buying bigger and bigger memory storage for their computers because they keep everything they ever download... necessary or not... rather than making their capacity work for them.

That is like buying bigger and bigger houses because you are unwilling to throw out an old pair of shoes every once in a while!

I had e-clutter. Uh huh!

• Homeschool files, forms, books and records
• Three jobs' worth of created forms, records and client files.
• E-copies of taxes, bills, audio books (I do not like audio books) and recipes.
• Email since 1999.
• Jokes and cartoons.
• BMP files of bad pictures the kids created in Paint.
• Photos.

Embarrassing. Yes, let's discuss it...

6 computers. No kidding. 6 computers. That alone is e-clutter! But not just that, although they were all networked together, there were still multiple copies of e-files. Finding the right file could take hours!

The only part that was well organized and accessible was the 20 Gigs of Photos and the 20 Gigs of e-books. Even that took years of hassle to come up with a plan.

I will start with those... my photos are on their own hard drive. The folders they are in go by year then month then day. The file names are the date (6 digit) and number. Nothing fancy for naming them because they get lost when I start naming them. I keep them this way because I scrapbook chronologically so I keep my photos the same way.

The e-books, also on their own hard drive, about 3000 of them, are filed by Publisher and then by Theme. They were originally filed by level and theme, but I could never find what I wanted because I don't think that way... that and the fact that when you homeschool you teach multiple grades at the same time and you can often use the same stuff for different kids with slight variations. OK, so e-books by Publisher.

But there is so much else!

What about the Favorites list?

Great place to store links, but not a great way to find them again if you don't set up a system. My Favorites are stored in folders like FINANCIAL (banking and online bill pay), MOM BLOGS, FOOD, STAMP_SCRAP, and ORGANIZE. And to make it one step easier, I label the links.

So my Bank account is B -Bank name

and my Credit card is CC -Credit Card Company

and my Utilities that are all on auto-pay are U -AP -Utility Name.

What about the crafts in Stamp-Scrap? I sort those by function.

I have BLOG, RETAIL, BLOG -PROJECT, REFERENCE, LINK LIST, etc.

This makes it the easiest to get what I am looking for without spending a ton of time surfing the internet looking for it.

But the biggest evil is email.

Everyone sends me everything. Jokes, projects, books, personal info... I even have emails from 4 years ago about clients. The hardest part was letting go of these files. I cringed and clicked delete. I started over fresh and clean.

I set up folders in Outlook similar to my favorites folders... FINANCIAL, FAMILY, FRIENDS, NETWORKING, STAMP-Scrap. Within each folder are other folders... one for each bill company, one for each family or friend, one for each network.

This helps in many ways... I set rules so Outlook auto-files email as they come in. I set rules so replies and sent messages get filed the same way. I can now open someone's folder and see how long it has been since I have contacted them. No more forgetting someone!

I have a similar system for clients, but it is another program add-in that keeps all kinds of client information together, including email. No more hassle... and did I mention that I finally deleted all those old emails????? *giggle* as if I was going to really need those files to refer to! OMG, what was I thinking!

My Documents. UGH! Do we even have to go there?!?!?

Yes, and I went there with the delete button! I opened and deleted or renamed files appropriately. When they were all named in a similar fashion, I created folders and filed them. Now I can find exactly what I want right away instead of opening hundreds of word documents looking for just the right one ... I knew it was here... I just don't know what I named it...

So now I have folders LEGAL, STAMP-SCRAP, FOOD, ORGANIZE.

And did you know that when you open word files (pdfs, excel, many other files as well) that you can create comments on the file that you can see when you hover your mouse over the file or on a details listing??? So if there IS something that you have two of, with variations you need all of, you can distinguish the files easily.

ANYWAY, night after night of hiding in bed with my laptop feverishly renaming files has paid off! My computer has tons of empty storage, runs faster and files are now easier to locate.

Yee Haw!

~Anne

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your email is out of control, Conquer your email will get your email organised and under control. Someone went from about 3000 mails to less than 100 in just days.

This is a comprehensive handout plus an hour-long audio. I teach you every single secret and tip that I use to help me manage my email in only 15 minutes a day.

What are your biggest email or electronic challenges?

Organising different categories of paperwork

Hi Marcia, My biggest organising challenge is trying to find a way to keep (and later find to use again without tearing the house apart) all my different teaching worksheets and the accompanying examples from arts and crafts and science things that I do. I teach several different classes that range from three-year-olds all the way up to teaching English to executives. Therefore I have a wide assortment of materials that I use, much of which I have made myself. Any ideas? I do not have an extra room or even a closet at home for all this. Besides private classes, I work in two schools, where in one I have no space to leave anything and in the other I have a small cupboard. So most of the stuff goes home to our three bedroom apartment - with nine people living in it! Susan

Here's my answer.


Wow, Susan, that IS a challenge. Teaching all those classes with no storage space. And then having to bring it home to your apartment.

I have a couple of suggestions for you.


1. Go through everything you have and declutter as much as possible
It's even more important to have only what you need when you have limited space.

You might find that you've been teaching a particular subject for years and you know it so well that you don't need half the stuff you think you do. (I've found this to be true for my goal-setting and time management workshops)


2. Categorise and label
Now that you have less stuff, it's going to be really easy to sort it all out into files and label it.

The better you label, the easier it will be to find.

I'd tend to sort first by subject, then by level. E.g. English - 3-year-olds, executives, etc.


3. Dedicate a place for all your teaching worksheets
You now have less stuff and it's all organised. Now you know exactly how much you have to store.

Definitely use the small cupboard in the one school; if possible, I'd try to fit everything you need at that school into that cupboard.

Then dedicate a small space in your apartment (even if only a banker's box) for the rest of the stuff.


By the way, there's more on paper organising in 7 easy steps to organise your office.


Any other suggestions for Susan?

Woohooo - it's time to tackle the paper!

This month we'll be decluttering home offices and today we're starting with one of the absolute major organising challenges ever - PAPER.

In fact, a couple of years ago, I asked the readers of this blog what their biggest organising challenges were. The overwhelming response was paper and all things office - email, computer, desk, etc.

And so I wrote 7 easy steps to organise your office which, almost literally, flew off the virtual shelves.

I know it's still the same out there because I get all your emails :)

If you don't yet have the 7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system, then read through a couple of the posts below to get some ideas.



Here are the posts...

1. Paper, paper and still more paper
2. Dealing with mail clutter
3. Paper decluttering
4. How I deal with all the paper

(if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering :)

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Here is my contribution for this week
Before:


Categorising and sorting into the different files



After - aah, the bliss


Now tell me, did you declutter anything today?

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Now for this week's challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

What did you declutter this week?

Office Organising Makeover - Week 4 - paper clutter

Anne here! It is Week #4 and my desk is still clean!

Clean, but honestly, for me, this week was the most difficult by far!

Why? Because Step Four is all about the Paper Clutter. And not only do I have tons of paper clutter on my desk, but I have tons in my drawer, tons in my files and more hidden in boxes in the Long-Term Storage closet. My oh My!

Where do I even start?

I started by clearing off the top of my desk, clearing out the drawer, pulling all long-term files, and pulling out all the regular files.

YES… I took everything out of everywhere! And to make sure I worked on it, I piled it on my bed… no sleep for me until it was better!

I know what you are thinking...

“OMG Anne… wouldn’t it have been easier to take it one file at a time?”

Why, yes! It would have been, and considering I have been taking the easy way out for years, I thought that the only way I would finish this step was if I did something drastic! (Marcia here - don't you love her spirit? LOL)

Mountain of paper in the middle of my bed = drastic!

I started going through the pile one file at a time. I made piles *gasp* around the edges of the room…

broad categories… TAXES, REAL ESTATE, MANUALS, MEDICAL, BILLS, SHRED, TOSS, PERSONAL, IDEA FILES….

And when the bed was clear, I confess… I crashed for the rest of the day… and a couple days after too! Paper is my nemesis!

Next step was cull through the files. Anything over 10 years old got tossed or shredded unless it was a birth certificate or medical file or such.

I also tried to determine how much of what was left really needed to be kept for reference.

Obviously I kept too much! I had 5 file drawers FULL, one medium size Rubbermaid tote FULL, and two long term file tubs FULL… not including all my homeschool files! That is another 8 tubs!

1. The old tax and real estate files will go into the tubs and into Long Term Storage in the big closet.
2. The Action and Reference Idea files will go in the desk drawer.
3. The rest of the files will go in the file cabinet. I am going to make them fit! Surprise! It won't be as hard as you might think! When I culled through all the files, I reduced the amount down to one action file drawer, one tub of long term, one drawer (not full) of manuals, and one drawer of Current tax, bills, medical, insurance files. REALLY! That is all that is left! I KNOW! I can’t believe it myself! (Marcia here - Anne, I'm so proud of you!)

Let me give you some specific examples of what I did:

My piles of actionable papers were reduced into good looking Immediate Action Folders located on the desktop and As Convenient Action Folders in the desk drawer. (Marcia here - Gee! those are very good-looking files!)



Business cards were input into My Contacts and then tossed.

Notes and ideas on little pieces of paper, previously stuffed in the drawers, in my inbox, in the pockets of my planner and in my purse were added to the Notes section in my Franklin planner, appointments listed on my calendar and tasks noted on my Master To-Do List to be referenced when I do my weekly planning.

Bills were also noted on my calendar then put in an action folder.

I consolidated 3 notepads -full of lists and ideas and thoughts -into one notebook with the plan to make notations ONLY in this one place. (Marcia here - this is going to work out so well - no more looking for that "bright idea" in several places)

My projects were planned step-by-step to help track goals and documentation/supplies were filed in separate labeled folders and buckets for each project.

WHEW! But I didn’t stop there.

I made new folders for my bills… I threw away all the old statements. I only kept account policies and such.

Then I added an information sheet to the inside of each folder on which I listed all the contact information, website, password, APR and such. Now the folders will only need to be referenced if I have to make contact and can be kept in a more long term storage area. (Marcia here - I absolutely LOVE this idea!)



Part of clearing the paper clutter involves keeping the volume of paper to a minimum.

Keeping this in mind, I went online and went paperless on as many bills as possible.
I now also review the day’s mail over the trash can, tossing all ads and junk immediately.
Then the rest gets handled immediately… Bills listed on the calendar and stuck in the BILLS to Pay action file. When the bill is paid, it is crossed off the calendar, noted on a yearly financial spreadsheet that is in the BILLS folder, and filed in the monthly file.

“But Anne,” you say, “doesn’t this just give you more email to deal with?”

Why, yes! It does!

And when you join me next week for Step Five… we will talk about how I dealt with my electronic clutter –all 40 Gigs of it!

Marcia here - I can't WAIT to see how she handles the email clutter - can you?

Anne, this was an outstanding effort on your part and I'm sending all my clients (past and present) to this post to see how beautifully you broke the whole process down!

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

Home office declutter challenges for February

In February, we're decluttering our home offices.

Here's the schedule but this time I also got clever - I posted it on the sidebar over there in case you forget what the week's challenge is, like I keep doing ---->>

Dates and what's happening

6 - mail and loose papers

13 - declutter 5 or more books/ magazines

20 - weed through 5 files

24 - Virtual Organising Seminar (join me from the comfort of your own home)

27 - declutter office supplies


Get ready to have some fun organising your office

I'm also going to be blogging about different office organising aspects throughout Feb so I'd like to know from you:

What is your BIGGEST office organising challenge?