If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of getting organized, remember this:

The less stuff you have, the easier it is to get organized.

Decide to be a person who only has what they

• Need or

• Love.

Every day, look for at least one thing to discard or donate, and keep a donation basket handy.

As you get rid of things, organizing will become easier.

So, what will you get rid of today?

More Like This…

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Here’s something you can do to get better organized – and it’ll take you just 5 minutes!

Inspect your pillows

1. Go through all the bedrooms and linen storage and check your pillows.
2. Are any in poor condition? If so, make a note to buy replacements on the Shopping quadrant of your Errands List.
3. Discard any pillows that are in poor condition if they aren’t needed.
4. Fluff the remaining pillows.

And you’re done!

Now you can replace the yucky pillows when you next go shopping – and all your pillows will be lovely and fresh.

Remember: 1. Move fast. 2. Don’t overthink. 3. Feel great about getting organized!

Start the 5-minute timer now.

This 5-minute organizing action is from the Organize in 5 e-program,
the time-poor, busy person’s solution to an organized life.

Related posts:

1. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Establish an Errands List
2. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Fashion a First Aid Kit
3. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Trim Your Tapes

Here’s something you can do to get better organized – and it’ll take you just 5 minutes!

Establish an Errands List

1. Find a notepad or piece of paper and a pen.
2. Place somewhere convenient – beside the phone, on the fridge door, or beside your bag or briefcase.
3. Create 4 sections in columns, rows or quadrants.
4. Label the sections based on your needs; eg: Groceries, Errands, Shopping, Library, Children’s stuff, School, etc.

And you’re done!

Now you have a simple and practical way to capture all the to-do items that need you to leave the house.

Remember: 1. Move fast. 2. Don’t overthink. 3. Feel great about getting organized!

Start the 5-minute timer now.

This 5-minute organizing action is from the Organize in 5 e-program,
the time-poor, busy person’s solution to an organized life.

Related posts:

1. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Inspect Your Pillows
2. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Organize an ‘Outgoing’ Space
3. Get Organized in 5 Minutes: Fashion a First Aid Kit

Want to simplify your life? Try this Quick Fix:

Simplify Your Life Fix #3: Limit Your Hangers

Keep just enough hangers for your current closet of clothes.

This works best if you’ve already completed:

• Get Organized Mission #10: Clear Out Your Closet and
• Get Organized Mission #11: Create Your Wardrobe Wishlist.

Now, whenever you buy something new, you’ll have to donate or ditch another item of clothing in order to free up a hanger.

It’s a great way to keep your closet under control – and your life nice and simple.

Do you have any closet simplifying tips to share?
To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/ / CC BY 2.0

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1. Simplify Your Life Quick Tip: Have a Ready-For-Donation Basket
2. Simplify Your Life Quick Tip: Abandon ‘Everyday’ Versus ‘Guest’ Tableware
3. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Simplify Social Media Updates

Want to simplify your life? Try this Quick Tip:

Simplify Your Life Quick Tip #2: Have a Ready-For-Donation Basket

Place a decent-sized box, bag or basket somewhere handy – like on a shelf in a hallway closet or in the laundry.

Choose somewhere:

• convenient – so it’s easy to put things in there
• out of view – so your home stays tidy.

Any time you notice something you don’t use or love in your home, wardrobe, car or office, simply pop it in your donation basket. When the basket gets full, bag the contents and place them in your car to drop off at your local charity store or bin.

Even if you’ve recently gotten rid of stuff or de-cluttered your home, it won’t take long before you find your donation stash accumulating – and your life getting simpler.

Do you have an system for keeping your life free of excess stuff? Please share!

To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/denniswong/ / CC BY 2.0

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1. Simplify Your Life Quick Tip: Abandon ‘Everyday’ Versus ‘Guest’ Tableware
2. Simplify Your Life Quick Fix: Limit Your Hangers
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Want to simplify your life? Try this Quick Tip:

Simplify Your Life Quick Tip #1: Abandon ‘Everyday’ Versus ‘Guest’ Tableware

When it comes to crockery, cutlery and glassware, forget having separate ‘everyday’ versus ‘guest’ sets.

Instead, choose tableware that is:

• Attractive – so you’re happy to use it with guests
• Decent quality – so it stands up to regular use
• Replaceable – so you can easily get extras to cover those inevitable breakages
• Dishwasher-safe – so it’s practical for everyday use
• Microwave-safe – ditto
• Family friendly – so everyone can use it
• In a simple, classic design – so you don’t get sick of it quickly.

Great places to look for such sets include homewares and department stores. Or maybe you already have a suitable set in your ‘everyday’ or ‘guest’ stash that can cross the great divide?

Have you found a fabulous set of tableware that meets the Simplify Your Life criteria? Please share your find!

To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Want to Organize Your Life, Set Your Goals,
and Re-Discover Yourself?

Check out our Life & Goal Organizer
Or save with the Complete Suite (limited time).

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Always in trouble for having no gift/card/ excuse on that special day?

If you’re an Outlook user, this Get Organized Quick Tip will give you peace of mind – as well as getting you out of the doghouse and into the good books.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #6: How To Never Forget a Birthday or Anniversary

In a previous Get Organized Quick Tip we learned How To Schedule Personal & Household Reminders.

This is a similar process, but uses appointments rather than tasks, and has a few extra steps.

1. Open a new appointment in Outlook

2. Enter the appointment subject

EG:

• Mary’s Birthday
• Wedding Anniversary 

3. Tick ‘All day event’

4. Set the recurrence

Click the recurrence button. An appointment recurrence box will open. Select the yearly recurrence pattern.

5. Set a reminder

Click the drop-down reminder list (there’s a bell at the left). Choose a duration that allows you enough days to buy a gift, organize a party or whatever this occasion calls for.

6. Add relevant notes

If it’s a child’s birthday or anniversary, you may want to note the birth or wedding year.

7. Save and close

Now repeat the process for all the dates you want to remember.

Then you can enjoy the shock and wonder of friends and family, as you face each future event well prepared with gift and good wishes.

To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Want to Organize Your Life, Set Your Goals,
and Re-Discover Yourself?

Check out our Life & Goal Organizer
Or save with the Complete Suite (limited time).

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Can’t remember the last time you changed the toothbrush heads? Forgotten how often you’re supposed to decalcify the coffee machine? Got a niggling feeling you’re wa-hay overdue for a dental checkup?

An excellent personal organization strategy that helps to simplify your life is to get as much stuff out of your head as you can.

If you use Outlook, this Get Organized Quick Tip will help you stay on top of recurring tasks and appointments – without wasting one iota of precious headspace.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #5: How To Schedule Personal & Household Reminders

Here’s how:

1. Open a new task in Outlook

2. Enter the task name

Perhaps:

• Change toothbrush heads
• Decalcify coffee machine
• Schedule dental visit

3. Set the start date

This will be today if you’re doing the task today.

4. Set the recurrence

Click the recurrence button.  (See the helpful red arrow in the screenshot above.)

A task recurrence box will open. Select the recurrence pattern you want.

Because the experts say you should change your toothbrush every three months, I’ve set the task to recur every three months from 1 September.

5. Save and close

It’s that simple!

Now repeat the process for all those pesky household and personal tasks you can never remember to do. And let Outlook remember for you.

To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Want to Organize Your Life, Set Your Goals,
and Re-Discover Yourself?

Check out our Life & Goal Organizer
Or save with the Complete Suite (limited time).

Did you like this post? Please social bookmark it using the buttons below.

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Or discover you’ve used up fresh items with distant use-by dates, leaving you stuck with older food of dubious provenance?

Here’s a very simple trick for making sure you use up older supplies first.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #4:
How To Unpack Groceries For Freshness

When you put groceries away, simply put the new stocks behind what you already have.

• Fresher eggs go behind older ones.
• Just-purchased frozen items go at the back of the freezer.
• Newer pantry stores go behind their respective older stocks (mushroom soup behind mushroom soup, etc).

It might sound obvious, but if you looked in your pantry right now, what would you find?

The trick with this tip is to make a habit of unpacking your groceries this way, rather than thinking you’ll re-arrange them later. In fact, one of the secrets of getting and staying organized is this: organized people avoid tasks that have to be done ‘later’.

With this tip, you’ll always reach for the item that will expire first – without ever having to re-order your pantry or fridge.

Got grocery-organizing tips of your own? Please share them…

To leave a comment: Scroll to the bottom of this post – a comment box is waiting for you.

Want some cool tools for organizing your
home and family life?

Check out our Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Home & Family Edition.
Or save with the Ultimate To-Do List Value Pack.

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Here’s one I use every day to streamline my social media status updates.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #3:

Use Ping.fm to post your social network status updates. It’s uber-simple – here’s how:

1. Open your free account with Ping.fm
2. Set up the social networks you want to post to. Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook and LinkedIn are my primary social networks.
3. Type in your status update and ‘Ping it’!

Voila! Your update is automatically posted to all your selected sites.

Got more personal organization tips for social networking? Please share them!

Related resources:

• 5 Steps to Organizing Your Social Networking (PDF)

Did you like this post? Please social bookmark it!

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If you’re on track, congratulations! If not, here’s a quick tip for making resolutions that are a lot more likely to stick – any time of the year.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #2:

To improve your chance of achieving your goal, sticking to your resolution or realizing your plan, make it a SMART goal:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time-framed.

If you’re not familiar with SMART Goals, you might like my article How To Set SMART Goals, which shows you how to take a generic resolution, like ‘losing weight’, and make it SMART.

The article includes a downloadable SMART Goal Planner, plus a video showing you how to use the Planner to set your own goals.

Try it yourself – and then I’d love you to share your ‘Before’ and ‘After’ goal or resolution in the comments.

Image by abakedcreation

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Getting Organized Quick Tip #1:

Don’t over-engineer.
Start with the simple version.
Lower your target and you may well improve your aim.

This applies whether you’re organizing your closet, decluttering the living room, starting an exercise program or anything else.

Getting started can be the hardest part of any change. To make a start and gain momentum, it’s a great liberator to let yourself opt for the baseline version of a task or challenge.

And you know what? You can always come back and improve, tweak, refine and raise the bar later.

Importantly, choosing the simple version helps you bypass the dreaded twin peaks of perfectionism and procrastination:

• It takes the perfectionism pressure off – you’re no longer aiming for perfect.
• It reduces the drive to procrastinate – the task is much less overwhelming.

Try it – and let me know if it helps you with your personal organization and goals.

Image by ToniVC

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