Clutter Spaces

* Let’s declutter this holiday season! Join in on my Clutter Spaces series, where I’ll clean up a junk drawer right alongside you! *

 

   Do you have clutter spaces? Junk Drawers? Corners where all the stuff you don’t use piles up? Maybe the guest room closet is full of things you don’t need every day? You probably always have the good intention of organizing it one day, but that day never comes. Until you need a pair of scissors. 

     Now, I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. Or how to organize your junk drawers. But, I think I can help you get the motivation to organize it. You just have to change your mindset. You have to realize that this drawer, corner, or closet is a mess, and your life would be so much easier if it was clean! 

     To change you mindset, you need to take it one step at a time. If that one step is thinking about your junk drawer to get the motivation to organize it, so be it. Now, if you’re on that one step for a month, it might be time to move on. One great tip I learned from listening to Lisa Woodruff’s podcasts (you can visit her at organize365.com or listen to her podcasts here) is to IDLE. Now, that does not mean to think about your junk drawer for a month. It means to Identify, Decide, Locate/Let go, and Evaluate. She originally meant it to be used for items like phone books, books, and other things like that, but I think we can put a little spin on it and make it work for an entire clutter space. 

     This week, we’re going to Identify. Just find your clutter spaces. I’ll be looking right along with you. I’ve got a few in mind already. Check back here next Wednesday when I’ll be sharing my clutter spaces and we’ll move on to the next step: Decide. 

Organization: My Top Tips

     So, I really like organizing. I do it for fun. I used to be super messy, to the point where I couldn’t even function in my space. In middle school, one of my teachers just made the 'organizer' in me come out. I don’t know how he did it, but ever since then I’ve been super organized. So today I’m going to tell you my three top tips for organization.

1. MAKE IT FUNCTIONAL 

     If you’re going to organize, you’re going to need the right ‘helpers,’ whether it’s containers, file folders, or sticky notes. It wouldn’t make sense to boil water if you’re going to eat a TV dinner, just like it wouldn’t make sense to have a magazine holder if you never have magazines. The boiling water is just an extra thing you don’t need to get to the final result. Just like the magazine holder with no magazines is, except the magazine holder takes up space in your work area. So the key to staying organized is keeping everything functional. It seems people get caught up in making sure everything they could possibly have has a container. I’ve fallen prey to this too. When you’re buying your ‘helpers’ to get organized, make a list of what you know you want to organize, and then buy what you need and only what you need. This way, you don’t end up broke with a magazine holder and no magazines to hold. That’s just a sad situation for you and the magazine holder.

2. MAKE IT SIMPLE

     Believe it or not, there’s a such thing as being too organized! I never thought I would say that, but it’s true. If you have too many organizational systems for one thing, or too many complicated measures, it can make you less organized. You’re less likely to use the systems you’ve set up because it takes so much time. If it’s too complicated to use, you won’t use it all. When I think about being too organized, I think about the scene from Friends where Monica is organizing all the photos, and she’s got the photos sorted by categories and cross references and all the photos are numbered, and Rachel picks up the last box of photos and they all fall out on top of the sorted piles of photos…that weren’t numbered. In a way, that’s what being too organized feels like. You get everything sorted out, and then a new wave comes in and you drown in complete chaos again. So keep it simple. The thing is, simple can mean different things to different people. I have a binder where I keep all my stuff from classes I’ve already taken, so at the end of the year I take everything out of my little binders and put it into one big binder. Within that binder, I have the classes I took that year separated by dividers. Within those dividers, I have notes that I took and tests behind that. This is simple and works well for me. For someone else though, this may be too much organization, and they just want to keep the stuff from the class in the little binders store it like that. That’s okay too! It’s all about what works for you, but it needs to be your definition of simple, otherwise you won’t use it. 

3. MAKE IT HAPPY

You’re not going to want to organize your stuff if you don’t get a feeling of satisfaction seeing everything organized when it’s finished. If you don’t like looking at plain black containers or yellow folders, get something pretty! If you like the look of black containers and manila folders, get that! (Now that I’m picturing it, it does look very sleek.) If you want bright pink or polka dots or clear acrylic, get that! Get whatever gives you that little flutter of joy in your heart every time you look at it. Don’t listen to anyone tell you things like “the clear gives the illusion of blah blah blah” “the purple polka dots don’t look professional.” They’re not the ones using it; you are! Get containers that make you happy and excited to use them. 

Okay, those are my three top tips for organization. Try them out and let me know what you think! I want to hear about your organization systems. I want to see pictures of perfectly organized desks. Give each other inspiration. Have fun with it. Make it functional, make it simple, and make it happy. 

Erin Condren Life Planner Review

Hey everyone! 

     Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things: planning. I've been using planners since first grade and I've had one every year. Ever since I got to start buying my own planners, I've spent so much time picking out the perfect planner. My two favorites are the Lilly Pulitzer planners and the Erin Condren. If you are into being super organized and what I call "micro-planning" (aka putting every little thing into your planner), I would recommend the Erin Condren. If you like to put a lot of things in your planner but have it in one big list, or if you just list things like homework and to-dos in your planner, I would recommend the Lilly. I love them both though; it's really a personal preference. 

The Beginning of the Week

     For my planner, I have the vertical Erin Condren July 2015 - December 2016 planner with a custom cover. I love it and have been using it since I got it. I also use stickers from Etsy with it. There's a whole community of Etsy Sticker/Planner addicts.

 I'll just list my favorites; these are the girls I order from constantly, whether it's for restocking my stash or because I see something new that I just have to have. 

LimeAndMortar - I buy her hydration stickers, which are eight little raindrop check boxes in a row, and you check off a raindrop every time you drink eight ounces of water. All of her products ship from Australia, so one of the most exciting things about ordering from her is getting an Australian stamp on my package! She also makes checklist stickers, and I got her halloween ones for the month of October, and I love them!

OhHelloStationaryCo - I love her canceled and rescheduled stickers. They're small enough to fit in the boxes well, but bright enough to be noticeable. 

StationStickers - I love her payday stickers, since they're small and fit up at the top but are still cute and colorful. They fit in the monthly boxes or on the weekly pages, which I really like. And it's always a nice sticker to see at the end of the week!

TheStickyPlannerCo - I'm gonna have to go on a long rant about her because she is an angel. She made me six months worth of custom banner stickers with my classes and everything else I needed listed on them. She was so gracious and patient with me since I didn't really know what I was doing (it was my first custom order). It was a very reasonable price too, which is always a good thing.  The stickers are perfect and almost look like they are printed in the planner instead of stickers. I'm so excited to order more of these! You can see them all the pictures on this post. 

     Now I'll talk about how I organize my planner. For every day, I put a hydration sticker at the top above the day, then a pay day sticker under that if it's payday. The Erin Condren Planner is divided into three boxes. Every day, I put a sticker that says "Little Things" on the lowest box. In my Little Things box, I write a checklist of what workout or workout class I plan to do that day, anything I have to do after school, and any little chores I have to that day, like change the litter box or clean the guinea pig cage. I also write a reminder there if I need to study for a big test that's coming up.  Under that, there are three lines in the planner, and I use those to write birthdays, anniversaries, scheduled pet medicine (like the monthly heart worm or flea prevention) , or if someone is leaving or coming into town, and things like that. 

     For school days, I have 3 classes every day, so I put my first period class sticker at the top of the first box, my second period  class sticker at the top of the second box, and my third period class sticker at the top of the third box. About halfway down the third box, I put the Little Things Sticker. In the space under each class banner sticker, I write if I have a test or quiz that day, then my homework for the class. I still use the Little Things box the same way. 

     For weekends or weekdays when I don't have school, I use a little bit different system. I put a "Today" sticker on the top box, a "To Do" sticker on the second box, and my Little Things sticker in the lowest box. In the top box, I write things that are happening that day, like appointments and just stuff I have to do that day, plus things that would go on the bottom three lines on school days. Under To Do, I put little chores and other things I want to get done that day. The Little Things box is still the same. 

     That's how I use my planner! What planner do you use? How do you like it?

Xx. Erin

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