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Simplified Living Solutions

Author: Sue Anderson

Buddy up

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If you have small children and have a hard time finding “alone time” to work on getting organized, why not buddy up with a friend? Pick a specific weekday and time and then every week, take turns keeping each other’s children for a couple of hours. Your children will have fun hanging out with someone else and you’ll be a happier, more focused Mom when they return. Try some of these quick organizing or decluttering projects while your children are away: Tackle one or more of the bookshelves. Decide which books you can part with and which books you will… read more »

Category: Home Organization | Tags: ,

Impromptu jewelry box

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I’m the kind of person that has to see things to remember that I want to do them, or have to do them. I am what they call a visual person. That’s why it is so crucial to me that everything is kept where it belongs. That way I’ll notice things I have to do when I see them laying in a place where I know they don’t belong. The most recent change I made concerned my jewelry. I have had my jewelry laying in a fancy glass heart shaped bowl on my nightstand for years. Because my nightstand is… read more »

Category: Home Organization | Tags:

Choosing a simpler life

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I am a huge fan of Rick Warren. His book, The Purpose Driven Life was a catalyst for me becoming a professional organizer. The book had a huge impact on my life and was a life changer for me. Following is one of his daily devotionals about Choosing A Simpler Life. I’ve bolded the last 2 paragraphs because they say it all. Enjoy! . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NIV) “You are the only one who can assume responsibility for your time and clarify what’s really important to you.” You’d think that… read more »

Category: Simplify | Tags: ,

Ahhh, such music to my ears

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I have a 25 year old daughter that suffers from ADHD. Living a peaceful, orderly, organized life has never been easy for her. We’ve had many challenges over the years and I’ve been extremely hard on her in many instances thinking that would straighten her out. Because of my work as a Professional Organizer, I have taken countless classes on ADHD and have learned so much about it. Unbeknownst to me all of the years she was growing up, people with ADHD struggle with organization. Since I wasn’t educated on ADHD when I was raising her, I would go back… read more »

Category: Random Musings | Tags:

Decluttering is fun and freeing!

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Did you know there is a very big reason why you feel so overwhelmed when you look around at your clutter and think about getting organized? It’s because all clutter is delayed decisions. As you look around at your things, you feel overwhelmed with the amount of decisions you’ll have to make, so we normally tend to just delay getting organized longer without realizing why. Once you are empowered with the knowledge that it’s just a matter of making those decisions, de-cluttering is actually fun and freeing! Don’t get me wrong, it’s work. But it’s actually very therapeutic. Not only… read more »

Category: Decluttering Tips | Tags: , ,

Filing system

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This is the “after” picture of the files. As you can see, we broke the files down into sections using colored hanging folders, and we even put the filing tabs in a straight row for each section. This makes locating and returning files much quicker, and eventually without much thought at all. The sections that we made are based on this person’s files and the different categories or groups of files that went together such as billing, office use, etc. When working with any client, we look at every single file and discuss what’s in it, what it’s used for… read more »

Category: Paper Management | Tags: ,

Filing fiasco

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This is a before picture of the filing system of a very busy, overwhelmed executive client of ours. The problem she was struggling with is a very common problem with entrepreneurs, her business grew very quickly. Doesn’t sound like a problem, does it? Actually it’s a good problem to have, but it causes a great deal of everyday stress because there are no systems in place to track or complete the endless amounts of office work you have as a business owner. The problem with this filing system, and most of the ones that we see, is that there is… read more »

Category: Paper Management | Tags: , ,

Perfectly productive

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Look at the dramatic difference in this after picture from our Messiest Desk Contest. Imagine how much more productive the client will be now that they are organized and not distracted by all of the visual clutter. Here are some simple tips on how to set up a productive, stress-free work environment: Keep the things you use the most within fingertip reach. Keep the things you use often within arms reach. Keep the things you use rarely the furthest away. Everything on or in your desk, and in your office, should be assigned a home based on it’s use. Don’t… read more »

Category: Office Organization | Tags: , ,

Where’s my desktop?

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One of our areas of expertise, and an area we love to coach people on is paper management and workflow. So many people struggle in this area. It’s a real joy to be able to teach someone how simple it really can be to be more productive if you take the time to set up systems and processes for your paperwork, tasks and stuff. Does your desk look like the one in the picture? If so, this is what it’s costing you to not take the time and get organized: Time and money Negative feelings such as depression and feeling… read more »

Category: Office Organization | Tags:

Simplify meal prep

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Take the stress and guess work out of last minute meal preparations by setting your ingredients and recipes in the dish you plan to make it in. This helps you double check that you have all of the necessary ingredients, and that you have the appropriate number of dishes to prepare your meal with. Reduce daily stress by doing as much food preparation as you can in advance. For example, in the recipe shown with this post, you can crush the crackers and combine them with the almonds in a baggie ahead of time. Instead of waiting until the last minute… read more »

Category: Simplify | Tags: ,
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