Have you ever battled to get your fashionista daughter dressed and out the door in time for school? In a recent interview with Woman’s Day Magazine, I was asked for a few tips to get the frenzied mom and kids out of the door in the morning in a more harmonious way.

Too many clothes  combined with a fashion oriented child makes for a slow ‘getting out the door and off to school’ morning process. I recently received a new product sample that can definitely help with this challenge. It does take pre-planning BUT, just like any other organizing tactic, the time you spend pre-planning each weekend  will pay off in spades throughout the week.

This is how it can work: Every Sunday night, you and your fashion savvy child can select and accessorize (of course!) outfits for the entire week. One for each day! The Organizables Team has created cool hanging bags that will keep every choice for each day contained and waiting for the morning routine, including shoes, socks, and accessories!

Not only will your morning routine go faster, your endless arguments about fashion will be consolidated into one day, the day you decide together what to select for school attire. Additionally, the closet will be less cluttered and chaotic. Purging at the end of each school year will also take less effort because you will be much more aware of what was actually worn throughout the year! Each bag is marked with the day of the week – Monday through Friday. Each bag also has two pockets to hold the small accessories for each outfit including undies, socks, and shoes.

These bags can also be folded up and used as travel bags to keep overnight weekend trips and family vacations better organized. You can get a set for each child. The boys set comes in blue. You can find these bags online at www.Organizables.com.

So, once again the moral to this story is, a little pre-planning with the proper tools will keep your better organized and less stressed as you proceed throughout the week. If you want to read more solutions to get you out the door faster from my Woman’s Day Article, click here!

This is a transcription of an interview that I had with a client part way through our organizing process. This was recorded during a shining moment when her teenage daughter had also decided to get help getting her room organized after watching the progress we were making in her mom’s closet. I always say, “be the change you want to see” and this time Read the rest of this entry »

Take time to schedule and manage your emails and phone calls

a. Never check email or voice mail first thing in the morning

b. Schedule regular times to check emails and stick to it

c. Read recent emails first

d. Allocate the amount of time you will spend and stop promptly

e. Create email signatures to sign off with one    click

f. Read it, delete or move it

Pre-plan and then plan again – keep your eye on your large goals

a. Plan next week either on Friday afternoon (business) or Sunday evening (mom)

b. Plan your day before it plans you!

Set your intentions and goals for the day in advance of that day

The day before, the night before or in the morning before you begin your tasks for that day

c. Allocate specific time slots for recurring tasks, do them over and over at the same time each week

Gasoline, banking, grocery shopping

Calls, reports, marketing

Arrive early for appointments

Spend the time you wait for others to plan what you want to accomplish in the meeting

a. This will decrease your stress level

b. You will appear poised, professional & in control of your schedule instead of harried and disorganized

Umbrella Your Day

(create chunks of time for related activities)

a. Divide your main responsibilities into 5 days, for example:

1. Planning Day – (Friday or Monday)

2. Current Large Project

3. Outside Appointments, Errands

4. Bills / Paperwork

5. Research

Create an exit area in your office for all items that need to leave your space.

a. Place things there as you find them.

b. Choose an area on your desk or credenza that is positioned towards the   door

Create ‘To Do’ Lists

a. Complete the three most important tasks each day before you move onto anything else

Take Control Your Papers

a. Check it, move it into a predetermined place off the counter until you are ready to take action

b. Handle it only once before you work on it

Learn to say NO

a. Don’t volunteer until you take a moment to determine whether      you have the time to fulfill the commitment

b. Give yourself permission to reconsider commitments

Delete unnecessary tasks from your schedule that detract from your BIG picture goals

c. Don’t automatically respond to another person’s  problem / fire before you determine whether it is going to foul up your agenda

Situation

Client was at the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s. She kept notes hanging up everywhere so she could remember important information. The problem was that she had so much information hanging up that it turned from useful information to overwhelmingly visual clutter. She had not ever used file folders or her file cabinet for years and instead used the floor and counters for paper storage. I think her reasoning again was that being able to see all of her papers would help her remember what she needed to do.

Read the rest of this entry »

Situation
My client had fluctuating weight issues and did not want to get rid of any clothes in the off chance that her size changed. She had massive amounts of clothes that were too big and clothes that were too small. Read the rest of this entry »