Organizing With Kids

Are you tired of asking your children to pick up and put away their things? If “clean up your room!” is a popular refrain in your household, there are some simple things that you can do to help your kids get on the organizing bandwagon.

Give them control. Kids love to solve puzzles and are often full of ideas. When working with your kids to organize their room or playspace, instead of you making decisions for them, see how they’d like their toys arranged or their clothes sorted. Maybe they want their clothes organized by color instead of type, when you thought doing the reverse would work well. Work with your kids to find out where they think things should go, and use those ideas to find appropriate homes for all of their stuff. Your kids will feel a lot more invested in a system that they can help design, rather than one that is imposed on them.

Keep it simple. A common pitfall of people who organize for their children rather than with them is that they create complicated systems that are oriented towards adults. Don’t create a system with many complicated categories and hard-to-use organizing gizmos. Keep categories straightforward and age-appropriate, and make sure that any containers or specialized organizing tools, such as craft boxes, re-closable plastic bags, etc., can be safely and easily used by your child.

Make storage accessible. Chances are, your kids can’t reach as high as you can, and can’t lift as much as you either. I’ve gone into a number of homes where well-meaning parents had storage bins full of toys that had been stacked nearly floor-to-ceiling. When I asked how easy it was for the kids to access the toys in the bottom bin, the parents usually say “not very.” If your kids can’t easily access their storage system, they won’t use it. Instead of stackable bins, use storage drawers. Make sure that everything is at a height that’s accessible for your kids, and that they are able to pick up and move things without straining.

Label everything. For kids (as well as for adults), a label on something makes it “official.” Once a drawer has a label says “socks” and a storage container is labeled “dolls,” those become the official homes for those items. As long as everything has a clearly labeled home, the chances of items finding their way back to their homes become much greater.

Use color. Finally, kids love color – so use it in their organizing systems! Color-code storage areas, drawers, and other containers as another way of “labeling” functions of the storage system. Organizing containers don’t have to be white, black, or clear – so use color where appropriate with the systems you and your kids develop.

Spending time with your kids developing organizing ideas and solutions can be a fun and rewarding family activity. Soon, you may find that your kids’ rooms practically clean themselves!

-- Joshua Zerkel



Joshua Zerkel, an expert Professional Organizer, helps busy people save time, space and money by getting organized at home and at work. For more FREE organizing ideas, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com/moms or call 415-830-6345.

© 2005 Joshua Zerkel and Custom Living Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Resolutions That Stick

It's never too early to start thinking about those New Year's Resolutions....

It didn’t quite happen last year, and the year before that didn’t work so well, but this year, it’s going to be different! This is the year that you are finally going to stick to those New Year’s resolutions. How, you ask? By following a few simple tips:

Don’t go overboard. One reason why so many people aren’t able to keep their resolutions is because they simply have too many of them. When you’ve got more than one or two, by the time the year gets into gear on January 2nd, it’s easy to lose track of what you were trying to change. Make a list of the resolutions that you had in mind, and pick the two that you’d most like to see happen. Two resolutions are much easier to achieve than ten!

Write it down. After you’ve selected one or two resolutions to focus on, write your resolutions down in places where you’re likely to see them – the refrigerator, the mirror in your bathroom, your computer, etc. This simple reinforcement will remind you that you’ve committed yourself to making a change.

Be specific. Resolutions that are vague are inherently hard to stick to. When you can’t visualize exactly what you want to do, it’s hard to know when you’ve done it. Goals such as “I want to lose weight,” “I want to exercise more,” and “I want to read more books” are harder to visualize than goals like “I want to lose fifteen pounds,” “I want to go the gym three days a week,” and “I want to read two books a month.” By making your resolutions specific, you can much more easily picture what it is that you want to achieve, and you can measure your progress toward your goals.

Set a timeline. Take a look at your calendar for 2005. Make notes on your calendar of how much of your resolution you’d like to have accomplished by the end of each month of the year. As the months go by, you can monitor your progress and see how well you’re sticking to your schedule. You’ll likely need to make adjustments as the year proceeds, as life tends to happen and schedules shift. Even so, having a loose, adjustable schedule is better than having none at all.

Don’t give up. Even if your resolution doesn’t stick right away and you don’t find yourself transformed by January 7th, stick with it. Most experts say that a new habit takes between a four to six weeks to develop, so give your resolution time to get integrated into your life.

The New Year is ripe with possibilities, and you CAN make this year’s resolutions happen, with a little planning, determination and commitment.


Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer
joshua@customlivingsolutions.com
415-830-6345

Getting Ready for Guests

Besides cups of spiced eggnog, late-night office parties, and kisses under the mistletoe, for many of us, the holiday season also brings…guests. This is especially true if you live in a sought-after destination like our San Francisco. But whether the thought of friends and family camping out on your sofa bed triggers excitement or dread (or maybe a bit of both), I have three simple-to-follow suggestions guaranteed to make the whole experience an easy one for you, and a special one for them.

1. Prepare in advance. For many us, hosting guests can be stressful. But in part, that’s because we’re rushing around at the last minute trying to clean up our home, or fill the fridge moments before they arrive, or worse…after they arrive. If it seems like you’re always scrambling when it’s time to entertain out-of-towners, then make a list of what needs to be done, and work on it a day or two before they roll into town.

2. Become a hotel. One of the easiest ways to prepare for hosting guests is to imagine your home as a hotel or bed-and-breakfast—because that’s what it will be for your guests. While you don’t need to strive for four-star service, consider the amenities that hotels keep in guest rooms, and you’ll have an idea of what to prepare for a “guest kit.” Take care of the basics first. Make sure your home is stocked with easy-to-grab snacks and small water bottles so that your guests can take them on their way out. Gather together linens such as towels, washcloths, and sheets, along with fresh bars of soap or shower gel, and have them ready for your guests when they arrive. Put the ironing board, iron, and spray water bottle in an easily accessible location, and show your guests where to find it. Most travelers come complete with cell phone (and charger), so point them in the direction of the power outlet. Think about the basics that you’d want or need, and prepare the same for your guests.

3. Think of yourself as a concierge. Many people feel that they need to be a tour guide, chauffer, and chef to their guests. Instead of running your guests around (and yourself ragged), give them options and let them decide what to do. Imagine yourself as a concierge—a gateway to services and entertainment—rather than as a tour guide. Get a good tour book of San Francisco, along with copies of current issues of local weekly magazines, and your guests can choose from among the multitude of things to do, places to see, and cuisines to enjoy. If you know that your guests have special interests or needs, make a few notes of attractions, events, or restaurants that they might like, and add them to the entertainment package. Make sure to obtain a new Muni map, the phone numbers to cab companies, and give these to your guests along with the rest of the bundle.

This holiday season, give yourself a gift—the gift of a stress-free hosting experience. Not only will you actually be able to enjoy their company instead of running last minute errands, or having to put your life on hold giving tours of the city, but your guests will have one of their most memorable stays in San Francisco, and will count your attention to their needs as a wonderful part of that experience!

Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer
joshua@customlivingsolutions.com
415-830-6345

Reducing Paper Clutter

We’ve got way to go to reach the paperless future shown in The Jetsons and Star Trek. During the course of daily life, many of us are faced with a deluge of paper, all of which needs to be dealt with in some way. Many people I’ve worked with are drowning in stacks, piles, and desks full of paper, and want to gain control over the paper in their lives. If this rings true with you, read on for some tips on how to begin to turn off the “paper faucet.”

Many people get far more paper coming in than they want or know what to do with, so the first step in managing paper is to reduce the amount that comes in. Start with your mail. Junk mail, which is still filling up many mailboxes and creating tons of waste and clutter, can be stopped, or at least reduced. Get your name off of junk mailing lists by going to the Direct Marketing Association’s web site at http://www.dmaconsumers.org/consumerassistance.html. Call your credit card company and tell them not to share your name or your information with third parties. Do the same with your magazine subscriptions, utilities, and other organizations that send you mail. Try to refrain from signing up for contests and other freebies, as these types of promotions frequently share names with junk mailers. The goal is to try and have your name and information in as few databases as possible – the fewer companies that have your name, the less junk mail you’ll find in your mailbox.

Computers were supposed to solve the “paper problem” – or so we were led to believe. In reality, computers tend to generate far more paper than they conserve – the article you printed out, the emails you decided to make hard copies of, etc. I’ve found that many people that print out information from the internet and email do not really have a clear idea of why they are printing it out, other than that they are saving it “for later.” Nor do they have a specific place to put this printed information, so it tends to end up buried under a pile or hidden in a drawer “somewhere.” Here’s a handy guideline: print web pages or emails ONLY when you know exactly where and to who they are going – if you can’t answer those questions, then there’s no need to have a hard copy. Instead, create a system of bookmarks in your web browser, which will help you find the articles that you’d like to read or refer to later. You can create bookmarks by topic, by site, by date…whatever makes the most sense for your purposes. Likewise, as an alternative to printing out emails, create folders in your email program to store your old email messages, or offload them onto a CD or removable disk.

Trying just a couple of these simple ideas can dramatically reduce the amount of paper that you have to wrestle with. In time, your freely flowing “paper faucet” will be reduced to a trickle.

Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer
joshua@customlivingsolutions.com
415-830-6345

Controlling Your Closet

San Francisco living is great – many of us are fortunate to live in beautiful, historic buildings that are just bursting with character. Another thing that’s bursting is our closets. With more clothing and belongings than ever before, it can be a constant struggle to find places to put all our “stuff,” especially in closets that were designed twenty-five, fifty, or a hundred years ago. Our lives, and our storage needs, are very different than our predecessors, yet if we want to live in San Francisco, we have to devise ways to shoehorn our belongings into closets that were designed for wardrobes from a bygone era. But how do you fit a modern wardrobe into a Victorian-era closet? I’ve got a few ideas for you.

The first step is to get rid of what you don’t need – that way, you can see exactly what you need to find storage space for. One of the best ways to do this is to take everything out of your closet, and start sorting it into piles. I like to recommend that my clients create piles for “Keep” (things you definitely wear), “Sell” (things that you can probably make money by selling at used clothing stores), “Donate” (things that are usable but that you probably can’t sell), “Trash” (things that nobody will want or be able to use), and finally a “Don’t Know” pile, for things you’re not sure what to do with. The “Keep,” “Sell,” “Donate,” and “Trash” piles are pretty straightforward, but what about the “Don’t Know” pile?

“Don’t Know” is for items that you like, but never wear or use. If you really can’t part with that $300 dress that you never wore, and you can’t bear to give up those soccer cleats for that league you were planning on joining two years ago, put those items into a box, and seal the box with tape. If you haven’t opened the box to use those items in six months, it’s time to sell, donate or trash those items, because chances are you won’t be using them anytime soon.

So how do you store everything that went into your “Keep” pile effectively in your tiny San Francisco closet? The key is to maximize every available inch of storage space in the closet. Look up, look down, look all around, and you’ll find that there just might be a lot more potential storage space in your closet than you originally may have thought. I’m often surprised at just how much storage space there can be in a closet - you just have to be creative about how you use it.

For instance, if your closet has only one rod, you can gain 50% more storage space by hanging another rod. Closet rods are available inexpensively at local hardware stores, and if you don’t want to install one permanently, you can get a removable secondary rod that hangs down off of your primary rod (I often suggest these to renters). No space in your room for a traditional dresser? Try some plastic, stackable drawers that you can use to fit in the floor space under where your clothes hang. I highly recommend the transparent or semi-transparent drawers rather than the opaque ones, because it’s very convenient to be able to see what’s in your drawers without having to actually open them up. If you have shelves above your closet rod, you can fold and stack sweaters and shirts, or use the space for transparent shoe boxes, which stack nicely. Don’t ignore the space behind the closet door, which can be a great spot for hanging a shoe rack, accessories organizer, or for installing a hook to hang long items such as coats and dresses.

San Francisco living is great – many of us are fortunate to live in beautiful, historic buildings that are just bursting with character. Another thing that’s bursting is our closets. With more clothing and belongings than ever before, it can be a constant struggle to find places to put all our “stuff,” especially in closets that were designed twenty-five, fifty, or a hundred years ago. Our lives, and our storage needs, are very different than our predecessors, yet if we want to live in San Francisco, we have to devise ways to shoehorn our belongings into closets that were designed for wardrobes from a bygone era. But how do you fit a modern wardrobe into a Victorian-era closet? I’ve got a few ideas for you.

The first step is to get rid of what you don’t need – that way, you can see exactly what you need to find storage space for. One of the best ways to do this is to take everything out of your closet, and start sorting it into piles. I like to recommend that my clients create piles for “Keep” (things you definitely wear), “Sell” (things that you can probably make money by selling at used clothing stores), “Donate” (things that are usable but that you probably can’t sell), “Trash” (things that nobody will want or be able to use), and finally a “Don’t Know” pile, for things you’re not sure what to do with. The “Keep,” “Sell,” “Donate,” and “Trash” piles are pretty straightforward, but what about the “Don’t Know” pile?

“Don’t Know” is for items that you like, but never wear or use. If you really can’t part with that $300 dress that you never wore, and you can’t bear to give up those soccer cleats for that league you were planning on joining two years ago, put those items into a box, and seal the box with tape. If you haven’t opened the box to use those items in six months, it’s time to sell, donate or trash those items, because chances are you won’t be using them anytime soon.

So how do you store everything that went into your “Keep” pile effectively in your tiny San Francisco closet? The key is to maximize every available inch of storage space in the closet. Look up, look down, look all around, and you’ll find that there just might be a lot more potential storage space in your closet than you originally may have thought. I’m often surprised at just how much storage space there can be in a closet - you just have to be creative about how you use it.

For instance, if your closet has only one rod, you can gain 50% more storage space by hanging another rod. Closet rods are available inexpensively at local hardware stores, and if you don’t want to install one permanently, you can get a removable secondary rod that hangs down off of your primary rod (I often suggest these to renters). No space in your room for a traditional dresser? Try some plastic, stackable drawers that you can use to fit in the floor space under where your clothes hang. I highly recommend the transparent or semi-transparent drawers rather than the opaque ones, because it’s very convenient to be able to see what’s in your drawers without having to actually open them up. If you have shelves above your closet rod, you can fold and stack sweaters and shirts, or use the space for transparent shoe boxes, which stack nicely. Don’t ignore the space behind the closet door, which can be a great spot for hanging a shoe rack, accessories organizer, or for installing a hook to hang long items such as coats and dresses.

So if your closet is currently on overflow, don’t despair. Use a few tips that I’ve suggested, and your closet will soon be your friend.

_Joshua Zerkel

-

Joshua Zerkel, Organizing Expert, helps busy people save time, space and money by getting organized at home and at work. For more FREE organizing ideas, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com/ or call 415-830-6345.

© 2005 Joshua Zerkel and Custom Living Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Joshua Zerkel, Organizing Expert
Custom Living Solutions
www.customlivingsolutions.com
joshua@customlivingsolutions.com Tel. 415-830-6345

Handy and FREE note-taking tool

A client just turned me on to Jott - a free service for quick voice notes. With Jott, you call a special 1-800 number and leave a voice note, then the service transcribes it and sends it back to you as an email or text message. I find that it's great for taking quick notes while on the run, and for helping clients keep track of to-do's that they'd otherwise not write down.

www.jott.com

-- Joshua Zerkel, Certified Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

Junk mail reduction for the non-DIYer

Reducing junk mail is a constant battle - sending letters, getting off lists, etc. - and it can be really tedious to stay on top of the companies that send you unwanted mail. A new service, GreenDimes, automates the process by handling the removal of your name from junk mail lists, as well as monitoring those lists to make sure your name doesn't reappear. They also will plan ten trees for every subscription to their service. Not a bad deal for $15/year!

-- Joshua Zerkel, Certified Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

Lateness: Maybe It's Not About You

There are lots of ideas why people are chronically late (or chronically anything, for that matter). Here's a great article from the New York Times that talks about the reasons why tardiness is such a problem for some of us.

http://tinyurl.com/2pd9wp

-- Joshua Zerkel, Certified Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

Managing Electronic Gadgets & Gizmos

The personal electronic gadgets that keep us connected and entertained are great. But searching for your cell phone charger, your iPod connecting cable, or your Treo’s power adapter can be a big waste of time. Here are two quick organizing tips to make your gizmo management easy:

Give them a home. Charging stations are specially designed to provide homes for all your gadgets and gizmos, while keeping all the cables tidy. My favorites are from KangaRoom at http://www.kangaroomstorage.com/category/2/1/office.html - they even have specially-designed travel pouches for cables.

Use your USB. Did you know that most small electronics can be charged directly from your computer’s USB ports? Instead of lugging AC adapters around with you on trips or taking up space on your surge protector at home, instead get USB charging cables for your gadgets, which can be found at sites like http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=3&subid=75 or on eBay.

-- Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

So Maybe Multitasking Isn't Such a Great Idea After All...

Ok, I've been saying that multitasking is a waste of time for awhile. Now the New York Times has a long article on the topic. It's an interesting read!


-- Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

Everyone Wants to Be a Professional Organizer?

According to the Wall Street Journal, techniques and strategies used by professional organizers (understanding the needs of clients, getting to the root cause of disorganization, etc.) are being co-opted by major retailers to sell more organizing products. Interesting article!

http://tinyurl.com/2253l3

Remember, organizing products are only tools, and need to be used with sound organizing systems and habits in order to be effective.

-- Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer - Office & Home
www.customlivingsolutions.com

Great Article on Tech Junk

PC Magazine, who is mostly a purveyor of the consumer electronics cycle, has posted an interesting article about the reasons for and effects of accumulating tech clutter. I love John Dvorak's articles - he's such a curmudgeon.

http://tinyurl.com/2wssn7

-- Joshua Zerkel, Professional Organizer - Home and Officm

Junk Mail Resources

One way to make it easier for you to get organized is to have less junk enter your mailbox. Stemming the tide of junk mail isn't easy, but here's some advice from ABC news. Check it out at:

http://tinyurl.com/jgthn

-- Josh

For more tips and ideas about saving time and getting organized, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

Article on TangoDiva.com Featuring Joshua Zerkel, Organizing Expert

I was recently featured in an article for TangoDiva, an online travel website. Read it online at:

http://tinyurl.com/phqj9

Working on the project described in the article was a lot of fun. The before and after photos are pretty dramatic!

-- Josh

For more tips and ideas about saving time and getting organized, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

De-Cluttering and Organizing Your Digital Photos

Digital cameras make it easy and fun to capture your memories. Many digital cameras can store hundreds of photos at a time - many more than the 24 or 36 that film cameras can. Organizing the sheer number of photos that can come from one memory card can be a challenge. Managing your digital photos can be easy - and fun - with a few simple tips:

1. Toss the junk. Unflattering photos, bad camera angles, and just plain awful shots can take up lots of space on your hard drive. Before organizing your photos, go through your digital photo collection with a fine-toothed comb, and make sure that you're only keeping photos that you like. Not only will you free up space on your computer, you'll make it easier to organize your photos by reducing the number of photos that need to be sorted.

2. Sort and separate. If you've been keeping all of your photos in one folder on your hard drive, it can be tough to find the one that you're looking for. Instead of using just one folder, create multiple folders by month and year, or by month/year and subject or event. Once you have your folders set up, them sort your photos into their new, separated homes. As you take new photos, create folders in the same manner to store your new shots. This will make it easy to find your photos later on when you're looking for them.

3. Software makes it a snap. Once you've set up your folders, managing your photos is easy, using readily available software. On a Mac, iPhoto is the standard, and on the PC, I usually recommend Picasa or Adobe Photoshop Elements. These software tools are designed to make it easy for you to organize, fix, search, and print your digital photo collection. Using software, you can browse your photos in various thumbnail sizes, repair the dreaded red-eye effect, add tags to your photos to make them searchable, and create slideshows to share with your friends and family.

4. Backup for safety. Losing all of your memories if your computer crashed could be disastrous. For that reason, I always suggest backing up your digital photos to CD or DVD (preferably the rewritable variety, so you can reuse your discs again and again). Many of the software programs used for organizing digital photos have a backup feature built-in, which can make the process of storing you files for safekeeping very easy.

Photos (digital and traditional) are meant to be seen. Once you've organized your photos, it's easy to share those memories in photo albums, prints, and slideshows. Spending a little time organizing your photo collection can make sharing your memories easy and fun once again.

For more tips and ideas about saving time and getting organized, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Joshua Zerkel

Great Time-Saving Tips from Money Magazine

So far, 2006 has been filled with resources for ways to save time. Here's a great article on freeing up your time from Money magazine:

http://tinyurl.com/b5c65

For more tips and ideas about saving time and getting organized, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Joshua Zerkel

Save Time by Skipping Past Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems

Part of getting organized is learning new ways to save time. If you've ever been caught in one of those voice-response customer service phone trees, you know that they can be a real waste of time. Here's a cheat sheet for those interactive voice response systems that lets you save time by skipping right to a live person:

http://paulenglish.com/ivr/

For more tips and ideas about Professional Organizing, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Josh

The 10 Ten Myths Professional Organizers Hear

This is a great list of the things we Professional Organizers often hear from the public and from potential clients.

http://topten.org/public/BI/BI407.html

For more tips and ideas about Professional Organizing, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Josh

Program on Preserving Collectibles, etc.

Many of my organizing clients are collectors of various items. Usually, these items need to be preserved in a certain way to make sure they are protected for the future. An interesting program on NPR recently featured this very topic. To listen, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5028270

For more tips and ideas about Professional Organizing, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Josh

Clever Article About Clutter

I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle's website (www.sfgate.com) and came across this clever article about consumption, clutter, and finally, simplification. Good food for thought!

http://tinyurl.com/b3d86

For more tips and ideas about Professional Organizing, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com.

-- Josh