The Magnificent 7: Tips for Cleaning Up Clutter - Answering Service Resources

Home
>
Get Organized - Organization
>
The Magnificent 7: Tips for Cleaning Up Clutter

The Magnificent 7: Tips for Cleaning Up Clutter

Clutter is postponed decisions®. Here are some suggestions to simplify the task of controlling clutter:

1. Put all like items together. Put items in their largest category first, and then break them down by steps as necessary. For example: (1)Put all clothing together. (2) Then break into women's clothing and children's clothing. (3) Then break women's clothing into seasons.

2. Create your own "organizing store." Determine a specific place to store any organizing items you find as you sort that might be useful in the future. This could include boxes, hangers, hooks, shelves, bags, organizing equipment, etc.

3. Determine the best location for each category. Where will they be used? What location would be the most practical place to have these items. For example, if items need to be secure, choose a location that can be locked or a lock could easily be added.

4. Choose an appropriate container. Select one that will hold the largest amount of each particular item you expect to have at one time ? or, put some of the item in a convenient place, with additional supplies in some less accessible space. For example, some paper could be under the copier with extra paper in a nearby closet.

5. Make containers easy to use. If you want to encourage people to put things away, remove lids whenever possible. For example, a container for videos which requires taking the container off the shelf to remove the lid will probably result in people putting the videos on top of the container!

6. Labels contents. Label the outside of all containers/shelves/cupboards clearly. This will vastly improve the chances of items being returned to their correct location!

7. Identify a specific purpose for every container/location. Unidentified containers/shelves/boxes quickly become catch-alls for postponed decisions.

© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com

In The News:

Best Syndication
Organizing your Photographs: Simple Tips on Sorting Out Old Pictures
Best Syndication, CA - 10 hours ago
Organizing hundreds of photographs can be time consuming so it is important you set aside a time and a place where you can sit down and rummage through this ...
Scrapbook: Making Wedding Photos More Memorable Best Syndication
all 2 news articles

ABC News
Out, Proud, and Fighting
Monthly Review, VA - 1 hour ago
For a change, protests, organizing, and mass outrage in the face of police brutality and discrimination are not the perfunctory backdrop to a soupy tale of ...
Sean Penn's 'Milk' is audacious and fun to watchâ€”the last thing we ... Silicon Valley's Metro
all 115 news articles

Community Organizing
CIO Insight, IL - 12 hours ago
We've got another one underway, so I wrote a little primer at my personal blog for community organizing online. I'm posting it here, too -- not because ...

IndustryWeek
LG Electronics Rewarded for Proactively Organizing African Market
IndustryWeek - Dec 2, 2008
Although it only arrived in African markets in the past decade, LG has made rapid progress by actively organizing the market. LG's experiences in Morocco ...

McCune Foundation Awards $350000 for Community Projects
Noozhawk, CA - Dec 2, 2008
By | Posted on 12/03/2008 The McCune Foundation has awarded more than $350000 for community organizing and social justice projects in Santa Barbara and ...

Research and Markets: Community Organizing and Youth Advocacy Is a ...
MarketWatch - Dec 1, 2008
Community groups examined in this volume advocate for and with youth in a variety of ways: through youth organizing, parent organizing, more traditional ...

Business Coalition Opposes Union Organizing Bill
Women's Wear Daily - Dec 1, 2008
by Kristi Ellis WASHINGTON â€” Labor groups and the business community are preparing to square off over a bill that would make it easier for workers to ...

Bahrain eContent Award Committee announces the 2009 award activities
Al-Bawaba, Jordan - 10 hours ago
The Organizing Committee of Bahrain e-Content Award (BEA) held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, ...

Obama & The Movement
ZNet, MA - Dec 2, 2008
... and his eloquence, shed the fears instilled by the Nixons, Reagans and Bushes since the 60s and, imbued with a new hope, began organizing on his behalf. ...

Moscow Sees No Obstacles in Organizing Supreme State Council of ...
istockAnalyst.com (press release), OR - Dec 1, 2008
Dec 1 (Interfax) - Russia sees no obstacles in organizing the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the near future, ...

organizing - Google News

Answering Service ResourceAnswering Service Resource