#sort

Jonda Beattie

Sep 4, 2018
2 min

Organizing Your Storage Areas

Before you begin on this project, take a good look at the way it is now. Look at what is working (don’t mess with that area) and what is not working. How do you plan to use this zone? Do you plan to: Park your car Store trash cans/recycling Store tools and accessories Pot or repot plants Work on projects and store tools Store bikes and other sports equipment/outdoor games/camping gear Store entertainment supplies Store extra products Now bring the things outside. If it is a s

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Jonda Beattie

Jul 11, 2017
1 min

Open Your Mail!

As a professional organizer I often help people sort paper and old mail. Here are some of the things I have come across. Old checks made out to the recipient – sometimes 10 years old A final notice that since the speeding ticket had not been paid (notices in other envelopes not yet opened) the drivers license was being revoked – right before a big road trip for this lady Gift cards Thanks for donations form letters – that should have gone into the tax folder The car title of

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Teach Young Children Organizational Skills

Jonda Beattie

Feb 14, 2017
2 min

Teach Young Children Organizational Skills

As parents we sometimes assume that some life skills are absorbed just because we model them and the children are living in the home. And sometimes that worked but not as well as if we actually taught them these skills. After all, we taught them how to brush their teeth and wash their hands. We didn’t expect them to know how to do this just because they observed us. So what are some of the organizational skills you can teach young children? Break large projects down into smal

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Reduce Tax Stress – Maintain a Yearlong Tax File

Jonda Beattie

Jan 17, 2017
2 min

Reduce Tax Stress – Maintain a Yearlong Tax File

Don’t lose your dining room table for a month while working on taxes. One of the files you should have near your desk is your tax folder. I like mine a bright red and it sits behind all of my standard desk files in my file drawer. All through the year, anything that comes in that is related to taxes should be dropped into this file. Don’t take time at this point to sort them. It is more efficient to sort them when you seriously start to work on your taxes. Acknowledgements of

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Time to Organize Your Workshop and Garage

Jonda Beattie

Sep 8, 2016
2 min

Time to Organize Your Workshop and Garage

Before you start your project, take a good look at the way it is now. What is working (don’t mess with that area) and what is not working. How do you want to use this zone. Do you plan to: Park your car Store trash cans/recycling Store gardening tools and accessories Pot or repot plants Work on projects and store tools Store bikes and other sports equipment/outdoor games/camping gear Store outdoor entertainment supplies Store extra products Now bring everything outside. If th

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Jonda Beattie

Mar 31, 2016
3 min

Excess Stuff – Sell It or Donate It?

I read an interesting blog this past week by the Clark Howard Staff. It was entitled “39 ways to sell your old stuff for the most cash”. Below are some tidbits from their blog and my take on it. According to the Wall Street Journal report several years ago, Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on goods and services they don’t need. According to Orlando Sentinel, nearly one out of 10 American households rents a storage facility, costing anywhere from $125 to $165 a month. Of

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Jonda Beattie

Mar 22, 2016
3 min

Tips for Organizing CDs and DVDs

Seriously, I thought by now CDs and DVDs would have gone the way of the old VHS tapes and cassettes. I know a lot of teens do stream music, listen to their music on YouTube with videos, and “bump” music from iPhone to iPhone. Movies are watched from the computer or Netflix. But, I can tell from my clients’ homes (and my own), there are still tons of CDs and DVDs out there. We have quite a few of both at my home but it seems we rarely listen to them or watch the movies. We are

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Jonda Beattie

Sep 1, 2015
2 min

The Zone Plan – Workshop/Garage Zone

I choose to work in the workshop/garage zone during September. The weather has begun to cool down. Summer equipment is ready to clean and store. Fall yard equipment needs to be accessible. Storage areas can get pretty messy and unorganized in a year. They are not in your main living area and therefore not so visible. It is so easy just to walk in and dump items “just for now.” I actually have two areas to tackle. One is a small room off the carport that also holds the hot wat

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Jonda Beattie

Jun 2, 2015
3 min

Bathroom Organization

If you are following my zone plan, this month is a good month to work on organizing your bathrooms. If you have a linen closet, include it in this zone. Your bathroom is one of the smaller rooms in your home but it is also one that is heavily used and holds many items. A bathroom can get disorganized and cluttered quickly, so it is important to have a vision and a plan for how you want to use this space. Keep clutter to a minimum. Minimize what you actually store here. Look

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Jonda Beattie

May 28, 2015
2 min

How Many Homeless Items Do You Own?

Often when I am helping people declutter, we first work on a very basic sort – you know, the one that has boxes labeled “Keep in this room”, “Goes elsewhere”, “Donate”, “Trash”, “Recycle/shred.” Sometimes when I pick up an items and ask, “Where does this go?”, I’ll get one of the following responses: Oh, it is used all over the home I don’t know – wherever Where do you think it should go These are the homeless items. They are just left where they were last used or moved somew

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Jonda Beattie

May 21, 2015
2 min

Last Day of School

The last day of school is almost here! The children are soooo ready for this final day (not to mention the teachers). On the last day, you just know they are going to run home, dump their school stuff in a corner, and run off to play. OK, so give them one day. But that pile in the corner has to be handled and throwing it into a closet is not the answer. Those stacks of old school papers, that whiffy backpack, old supplies, and the end of year mementos have got to be dealt w

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Jonda Beattie

May 13, 2015
2 min

Seven Steps to Reducing Clutter

You look around your space and you know you have too much “stuff.” But it all seems important to you. After all, you either bought it or it was a gift. How do you go about making the decision of what goes and what stays? Look at your motivation. Why are you considering getting rid of this “stuff” at this time at all? Are you moving? Do you want to entertain? Do you want clear open floor space? Are you just tired of all this stuff? Your motivation will help you with making dec

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Jonda Beattie

Aug 5, 2014
2 min

Taking Back Your Laundry Zone

Keeping up with laundry is less of a hassle if you have your space well organized. Decide what the purposes are for this zone. Besides the washer and dryer, do you also have your iron and ironing board stored here? Besides your laundry products, do you also store other cleaning products here? Do you store your pet food? Do you keep your recycling bins here? Be very clear on what you expect this area to house. Then zone it out so that everything has its own home. If you have s

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Jonda Beattie

Jul 30, 2014
2 min

Ten Tips for Clutter Control

You look around your home and see little stacks of clutter here and there. How did that happen and how can you control this situation? Everything that is in your home should have a purpose and a “home” where it stays when not in use. Nothing should “float.” Even if you use your laptop in several places, it should have a place where it lives when you want to put it away. Like items should live with like items. This helps you keep track of what you already have. Laundry items s

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Jonda Beattie

Jun 4, 2014
2 min

Organizing the Workshop/Garage Zone

The workshop or garage area often ends up as a dumping area. It is not in your main living area and it is sooo easy to walk in and dump something “just for now.” After a while it is very difficult to find things you think are there or even to freely move around. I suggest that once a year you schedule a time to really organize and clean out this zone. Start with deciding the purpose for this area. Do you plan to: park a car store extra household items like water/paper product

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Jonda Beattie

May 13, 2014
2 min

Last Day of School

The last day of school is almost here! The children are sooooo ready for this final day and the beginning of summer break. On the last day you just know they are going to rush home, dump their school stuff in a corner, and run off to play. OK, so give them one day. But, that pile in the corner has to be handled. Those stacks of old school papers, that whiffy backpack, and the end of year mementos have got to be dealt with before summer can really begin. Clear a space – maybe

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Using Containers as Organizational Tools

Jonda Beattie

Mar 12, 2014
2 min

Using Containers as Organizational Tools

Now, when I am talking container, I am talking about anything that holds something. I open up the definition beyond tubs, bins, and baskets and include cabinets, drawers, closets, and bookcases. This past weekend, Rob and I sat down to organize our entertaining credenza. When we got married this fall, we both did a lot of purging. Still, when we looked into the area where we keep our CDs and DVDs it was easy to see there was still an overabundance. We reached an agreement tha

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Jonda Beattie

Feb 17, 2014
2 min

Organize Your Greeting Cards

How do you handle this need for cards? Buy as you need them. This is a good system if you are short on storage space and are organized enough to get out there early enough to find the perfect card and mail it on time. Buy as you need them, but also have an eye out for that perfect card for someone special. Buy cards that appeal to you when you see them – you can never find the perfect one when you really want it. Buy when you see good ones. Really stock up when there are sale

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“Isn’t that coffee pot still under warranty?” or Why Organize Warranties and Manua

Jonda Beattie

Aug 27, 2013
2 min

“Isn’t that coffee pot still under warranty?” or Why Organize Warranties and Manua

In the past I have always kept my manuals and warranties in a plastic bin. If I needed anything, I just shuffled through until I found it. The important step for me was that annually I would look through the paperwork and discard anything that I had replaced or trashed. If I gave away a space heater to a friend, I could find the manual. Now that I am putting my house on the market, I am rethinking my system for a couple of reasons. I want to separate all paperwork that will s

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Jonda Beattie

Aug 13, 2013
2 min

Off the Floor and Out the Door

You’ve had enough of all the clutter lying around. You decide to take action – either by yourself, with a friend, or with a professional organizer. You start the sorting process. This box I keep. This box I donate. This box is for items that I plan to give to specific people. This I trash. This I will try to sell. You are on a roll. But time gets away from you and you need to stop for a while. You know that you still have a lot to do. So, you just stack up those sorted boxes

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