Unclutter your table and counter7/25/2023 ![]() All the stuffing that says "You've been selected to receive these free gifts" goes into the recycling bin. Open the bills first because they represent a relationship that must be honored if you want the services, you have to pay. Then separate the rest: bills, personal correspondence, time-sensitive invitations, requests for charitable donations, membership renewals, new credit card offers and so forth. The new catalog replaces the old one, which gets recycled.) If you're getting catalogs you never wanted in the first place, pull off the pages with the mailing label and put them aside that's an action item for later. If you're shopping for something specific, save them. First, pull out the circulars and flyers and set them aside you'll either clip the coupons or put them in the recycling bin-later. When you're ready, take your mail basket to wherever you deal with paperwork. You don't have such a container? No wonder there are so many piles of mail around your house. You can't slice chicken for dinner and sort your bills at the same time, so when you come in the front door with a stack of mail, put it in the basket, box or whatever container you have handy for this purpose. ![]() If you can't finish the mail, don't start the mail. How often do you use the cookbook? If you've had it for years but it's never gotten a single stain or burn from use, donate it. Mesh shopping bags roll up small enough to be kept in your handbag for unexpected trips to the market.Ĭookbooks: Unless you're a collector or you have a lot of room, edit them. Keep canvas shopping totes in the car so you don't accumulate more plastic bags. Use the ones you have for trash can liners, or take them back to the supermarket for recycling. Plastic bags: Everybody has a plastic bag full of other plastic bags. Knives: If you're short on counter space, consider the type of knife block that fits in a drawer. If you have the space, hang them along the wall for fast access. Pots and pans: If there isn't a lot of space in your kitchen, use a pot rack. If you don't have one or the other, it's a recycling item. If your Crock-Pot has a missing lid that you say you're going to replace someday, or you're keeping the bread maker just because it was a gift, get rid of it.įood containers: All your plastic storage items should have corresponding lids. The idea here is to weed out what you're not using, then put similar items together and in the best places.Īppliances: Machines that are broken or aren't used are just taking up space. Your kitchen is a food preparation area, not a storage space. You're trying to simplify your life, so simplify your approach to getting organized. Multitasking is supposed to help you get more things done quickly, but when you try to do 19 things at once, everything ends up incomplete. My clients mock me when I say, "Where do your keys live? They live in a bowl or on a hook by the front door"-but you never lose anything when you put it where it lives.ģ. Every item needs a place where it "lives." Setting things down on the coffee table or kitchen counter creates piles and confusion. Remember the question of what you'd grab if your house were on fire that's your baseline for determining an object's worth.Ģ. Everything you own should have value, either because it's functional or beautiful or you just love it. You can do it yourself by following the steps I've outlined:ġ. ![]() As a professional organizer, I help my clients figure out what they should keep and what they should kiss goodbye then we figure out how to make what they have work for them. There's no reason to be surrounded by things that don't work, that you don't need, or that you don't even like. ![]()
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