Tips


There are lots of little little tips and tricks that I do to organise snippets of life that don't really warrant a post in themselves but I think are pretty useful, so I decided to start jotting them down on this Tips page. 

I hope you might find something you can incorporate into your own organising routine and please share with me any of your own little tips or tricks!!

GENERAL
  • I've found it's better to deal with something once, rather than to put it aside to deal with later - invariably later doesn't come and stuff and clutter just accumulates.
  • Store items where you will use them - e.g. we do our ironing in the Den, so the Iron/Ironing Board now live there (used to be in the kitchen) or I watch DVDs on my laptop in bed, so have moved the DVDs into the wardrobe in the bedroom.
PAPERWORK
  • Duplication - I find that sometimes duplicating information can save time. In Mission Control I have a contacts list which includes contacts who might need to be contacted in both emergency and non-emergency situations and I also have an emergency section which includes emergency contacts. So I don't need to look up the emergency section then find the contacts section. 
  • Filing - when I file something, I have a quick scan through the folder to see if its replacing something that can then be shredded.
  • Magazines - for those magazines that I like to refer back to, I keep them in a magazine file but only allow myself to keep as many copies as the file will hold. Once the file is full it then has to become one in, one out.
  • Magazines - for other magazines, when I buy the current edition I go through last month's, I cut out any pages I want to keep and recycle the rest of the magazine. I don't allow more than one month's worth to build up.
  • Magazines - for anything I cut from a magazine, I check online to see if I can find the information/article/picture that I can then pin onto Pinterest.
  • Magazines - for any cuttings that I can't pin, I try to either scan or transfer manually the information onto an Evernote note. 
  • Mail - I sort mail every day and shred everything that doesn't need to be actioned or filed and recycle envelopes and flyers as soon as the mail's opened. 
  • Mail - I set aside time for follow-up to-dos for the mail that's received - this is scheduled in as a weekly organising task.
  • Mail - I keep a chequebook and stamps in the kitchen (where I deal with the mail) handy for any replies or cheques that need to be posted.
KITCHEN
  • Cleaning - I keep a supply of cleaning products - at least one spare of each product - and restock when I start using the spare. 
  • Dishwasher - I put dishes in the dishwasher as soon as possible after a meal so they are not left out cluttering up the kitchen (with the food congealing - YUCK!).
  • Dishwasher - I empty the dishwasher in the morning (I usually put it on once a day after our evening meal), that way its empty and ready for all the day's dishes.
  • Dry Food - I have storage containers for all dry foods. For those I use regularly I don't worry about Best Before date but for the ones used less often I put the part of the packaging that has the date on it into the container.
  • Laundry - put dirty laundry (except blacks/linens) straight into the washing machine and put the machine on when its full.
  • Laundry - do separate washes for blacks/linens once a week.
         These laundry tips are from Jen at IHeartOrganizing - great ideas.
  • Laundry - I'm really bad at putting on a wash then forgetting to ask Hubs to hang it up to dry, so to remind me I leave the washing powder out on the worktop till all the washing is hung up.
  • Packaging - I remove excess packaging from items as soon as its delivered (online grocery shopping)  e.g. take plastic wrap from multi-packs. 
  • Perishable Food - when I open something that then has to be used within a certain amount of time I write the date of opening onto the container so I know when I need to use it by.

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