Organize Oregon

A preview of Organizing Weekly

Week 1 here – are you still throwing out trash and junk mail at the door and adding items to your donate box?

Week 2 here – don’t let those closets become hiding spots and catch-alls!

Welcome to Week 3 of Organizing Weekly!

This week we’re going to tackle food storage.

It’s a scary prospect for many, but you can do it! Just 10 minutes a day for the next 6 days, and 30 minutes on the 7th day will give you dramatic results. Remember these are tips to help those with very limited time so it’s a bit different than the tips you’d get with a full day or more to get organized. Depending on the amount of food you have and the level of disorganization, you might need to do this for 2 weeks, just double the amount of days for each step, but try to stay at 10 minutes each day/30 minutes on the 7th, so you don’t get overwhelmed and stressed.

:: Day 1 – Day 2

Have an empty garbage can ready and go through your food cupboards and shelves. Spend 10 minutes each day looking at “good until” dates, throwing everything that’s expired, as well as items that show evidence of bugs or mice, and anything you know won’t get used/ate.

:: Day 4

Onto the refrigerator, and freezer, throwing everything past it’s prime, badly freezer burnt, unidentifiable, never going to get used, etc.

:: Day 5

Canned food organizing. Group all canned food by type (soups, fruits, vegetables, etc), in neat rows, back to front. Start on Day 6 if you have a few minutes to spare, but don’t go over 10 minutes.

:: Day 6

Other non perishable food organizing. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just grouped together so you know whatever item you might need is in an area {this} big, instead of “somewhere in the kitchen. maybe.” Baking supplies, breakfast foods, snacks, etc.

:: Day 7

This is your 30 minute time – clean out the fridge completely, and wipe everything down well (I go so far as to take all the shelves to the tub and scrub them down good, and wash the walls of the fridge while the racks are drying), and put the food back in, neatly. If you find your tend to forget you bought a food, make a new spot in the top front for these kinds of foods so they don’t migrate to the back until they end up looking like a high school science experiment.

When you bring new food into the house, do a quick scan to see if there’s anything you need to toss before putting the new in, and put the new away in their proper area. Look at investing in some organizing products like the following, to help get even more organized

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A preview of Organizing Weekly: http://www.organizeoregon.com/2011/08/04/get-a-little-more-organized-each-week/

Week 1 here: http://www.organizeoregon.com/2011/08/04/organizing-weekly-week-1/

Welcome to week 2 of Organizing Weekly! In addition to continuing the work you started last week, this week we’re going to tackle one closet, preferably the least organized one in your home. Since closets are typically too small for multiple people to work on one together, have each person work on a separate closet at the same time. Below are some items that may be of some help getting your closets organized. Closets often have a load of seemingly unusable space, that with some creative storage solutions, you can optimize every little bit!

:: Day 1

Pick the closet you most want organized. Tell yourself you don’t need everything you are going to come across in this closet and it is ok to part with a good portion of it! Spend 10 minutes and sort through coats/clothes and putting unwanted items in the donation box from last week.

:: Day 2-6

Each day, spend only 10 minutes working on removing unwanted items (donate box, or throw away) and moving wanted items to where they belong (kitchen, bathrooms, borrowed clothes back in their owner’s closet, etc). Set a timer and don’t go over 10 minutes.

:: Day 7

Spend 30 minutes finishing up the work you started on previous days. If the closet hasn’t been finished at the end of Day 7, keep working on it for 10 minutes each day until it’s done. Take your donation box to your preferred donation center.

Make a promise to yourself that the closet is to stay organized and not become a catch-all for random stuff ever again. Another week well done!

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A preview of Organizing Weekly: http://www.organizeoregon.com/2011/08/04/get-a-little-more-organized-each-week/

This week we will start on developing good habits. There may be better ways of doing some things, but we’re going for easy, but effective.

:: Day 1

Put a good size sturdy box next to the door you and your family go in/out the most. Next to it, put a garbage can.

The task: Tell your family (and yourself) – no garbage in the house. Junk mail, fast food bags, anything you aren’t keeping, go into the garbage can before you set another foot into the house.

:: Day 2-6

Each day, spend 5 minutes (no more than 10) finding 3 or 4 items to donate and place these in the box. Each family member can contribute.

:: Day 7

Spend 10 minutes going through and finding more garbage to fill up the garbage can, and another 10 minutes finding more items to donate. Take the garbage out, put a new bag in. Put the donation box in the car and if possible, take it immediately to Goodwill or other donation center. Immediately replace the box.

Pat yourself on the back and get ready for next week.

Continue this process each and every week. Once your house is under control and good habits established, you can move the donation box to the garage and you’ll be able to remember to go straight to the kitchen to dispose of junk mail and trash.

Kids can help by adding things to the donation box (no big declutter – just an item or 2 a day).

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Many clients simply do not have time to get organized. They work 60+ hours a week, have children, rarely get time to use the stove, even if it wasn’t covered with pans.

This weekly organizational series is for you. Each day’s task shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, except for one 30 minute session each week.

I hope this helps you start to reclaim you life and home. It’s a slower process than an all out attack on the clutter, but you will see results, and will be motivated to continue.

Remember, even young kids can help with organizing, and in each week’s post, I’ll make a note how they can help.

You can view each week’s post here: http://www.organizeoregon.com/category/organizing-weekly/

Please subscribe to the blog feed to get notified of new posts, and follow me on Twitter to see all the tips and ideas!

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