Monday, May 26, 2008

Too Many Shoes?

Remember Imelda Marcos? She opened a museum back in 2001 to display her collection of shoes. Now, most of us don't have the luxury of paying homage to our shoes. According to a local closet contractor that I spoke to recently, the average women owns 40 pairs of shoes. I'm happy to say that I fall below average in this category.

A recent Wall Street Journal Quick Fix article titled, "Making Good Use of Old Shoes" by Suzanne Barlyn (WSJ, Thursday, May 15, 2008) described several websites where you can donate your old shoes or other footwear.

Other options include posting to your local group on www.freecycle.org or contacting various non-profit organizations which come to your home to pick up donated clothing and shoes, for example: Lupus Foundation of America, www.lupuspickup.org

Need help getting organized or releasing? Contact me to help you Sort Things Out, one step at at time!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Catalogs & Magazines

As you continue on your journey of organizing and releasing, one tip that I share in my workshops is to "Stop the Flow" of whatever it is that you have too much of.

Here are two ideas to help cut back on the number of incoming catalogs & magazines that may be accummulating in your home:

CATALOGS
"Catalogs: Thanks but No Thanks" -- article written by Cathi Gandel (AARP Bulletin May 2008, Vol. 49, No.4). "They're not only mailbox stuffers. The 19 billion catalogs mailed to Americans every year consume 3.6 million tons of paper and 53 million trees. If you want to stop the deluge at your house, check out Catalog Choice, a new online service that will tell merchants "thanks but no thanks" on your behalf. The service is free, and it's simple. Just register at www.CatalogChoice.org to search and decline. You can also add an entry. The site, endorse by the Ecology Center in Berkeley, Calif, the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, launched Oct. 9. As of April 1, 694,478 people have opted out of 9,181,316 catalogs". ~end article~

MAGAZINES
Barnes & Noble online offers a wide variety of magazines in digital format. Whether you're looking for a special issue or single copy, or if you'd rather go green and order (or give as a gift) a digital subscription to your favorite magazine, check out the selection. Note: not all magazines may be available yet online; if you know of other websites or sources that offer a selection of digital magazines, feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

Helping you to Sort Things Out, one step at a time!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Organizing Advice: One Size Doesn't Fit All

Here's an expanded discussion about organizing receipts on the Sort Things Out network forum that I moderate on Ryze.

Does it makes sense that I personally use several different systems at the same time, to file receipts (primarily using a binder, sometime scanning, and archiving long term receipts in a file cabinet) or is that too confusing to some? It seems to work for me right now, but for someone else, they may need to find another type of system to make it work for them.

Just as I mention in my workshop, there's no such thing as "one size fits all". There's not just one organizing solution, not one organizing product or just one system that will solve everyone's organizing problems in one fell swoop.

There's lots of advice out there: lots of products, lots of tips, experts, TV shows, books, articles, websites, etc. What I recommend is to listen, learn, try it out the advice that's out there, then adapt it and make it your own. Modify, tweak, change, and adjust the tips and ideas to apply to your own unique and personal situation.

The idea is to make it work for you to help you on your "road to recovery" to becoming better organized and allowing yourself to release.

Feel free to contact me or visit www.Sort-Things-out.com if I can be of assistance as you begin (or continue) on your own personal "road to recovery and release".