Eva's Edict: In-Through-The-Out-Door Thursday

In-Through-the-Out-Door Thursday, STO Sort Things Out, Eva's Edict:

Take 5 minutes to clear the floor area leading to and from the doors in your home, including entry doors, bedroom doors, closet doors, etc.

Pick up, move and put away the things that are blocking the area around your doors.

Post when done!

"Make It Fresh" Friday Edition

Jennnifer Wilner of New Jersey wanted to freshen up an unused corner of her basement to create a new space for her daughter to play in. She assessed the area and planned how to transform cinder block to a Cinderella-like space, now affectionately called the "Pink Room".

Jennifer explained, "I purchased pink remnant fabric, then my husband drilled a few holes into the cinder block and mounted 1 x 2 x 12' wood strips to the brick. We wrapped the fabric around the wood to hide it, and then attached to the brick at the top & bottom, to give the room some ambiance as well as to hide the ugly brick."

"Also with the fabric, I created a "skirt" to cover the front side of my counter top desk and the back of my bulletin board. Finally, using inexpensive flat bed sheets ($3 each), we threaded speaker wire through the top to create a curtain/divider for our laundry area."

"With some leftover furniture and a few holiday gifts that my daughter had received, she now has a TV stand (re-purposed from an old plastic storage shelf) which holds her Wii and television."

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Wilner

When we talked to Jennifer, it was in the middle of a heat wave in July, with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees. She explained that the lower level basement was the perfect spot to create a play area. "I LOVE that she can play inside, especially on a day like today!" said Jennifer.

Thanks for sharing your ideas with us Jen!

Have you done a "refresh" of a space in your home? Are you looking for "fresh" new ideas on how to transform your space? Drop us an email eva@sort-things-out.com or comment below or on our Facebook Page Sort Things Out.

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

Talk to you soon,
Eva
STO Organizing Coach
Sort Things Out

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

Let me know how I can help!

Talk to you soon,
Eva Abreu

Can Organizing Be Fun? Sure it can!

Add a little fun to your organizing task! Do you know how to do the Macarena?

What are some ways that YOU have fun when you organize? Leave a comment below or email me if you're stuck and need some ideas to help you get motivated.



Regards,

Eva Abreu, NJ Professional Organizer
Sort Things Out

Doing Dishes, Making Decisions

This post was inspired by a tweet that I sent out on Twitter tonight.



I needed to do one of two things, but was undecided about which one to do. Both would take about the same amount of time.

Blogging requires brain power; doing dishes require physical action (and not a lot of brain power).

I opted for the dishes, since my brain was tired. Plus, I needed the exercise too. Bend, stretch, reach to put away the dishes, play with water.

I got tweet responses saying "Blog!"

I replied back that I could blog about dishes, so here I am, doing so, after having done the dishes.

What does this have to do with organizing? It's all about making decisions. And, having an incentive or motivation to keep you going.

With a pile that needs to get organized, you can either take care of it, or not.

For many of us, it ends up being not. Not in the mood to do it, not feeling like it, not enough energy, and so on.

Why not change it around next time, and give yourself the choice of working on one pile or ____ (fill in the blank with something else that needs to get done) and/or a reward to go with it.

Start purging the one pile for 5 minutes (Eva's Edict), then stop.

Now, go ahead and do the other task, 5 minutes. Give yourself the reward at the end, when done.

The main thing is to take a step toward getting a pile done, whether it's dishes, paperwork, clothes, whatever. 5 minutes at a time.

Do something, rather than nothing. Give yourself a choice, and make a decision to move forward.

Let me know how you do, and what you end up doing (leave a comment below or send me tweet on Twitter). I'll give you a tweet back as your reward.

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

~Eva

5 Things When Stuck Inside on Snowy Day

The Story Behind the Video:

When there's a snowy day in New Jersey and I'm stuck in the house, I go a little stir crazy. Cabin fever, I think it's called. Then I get this urge to make videos. Of Top 5 lists. All while trying to keep the regular routines at home.

And this is going against all that I teach, which is Focus on One Thing.

When I created and edited the video below, it was around 4:00pm in the afternoon, at the lowest energy point of my day, when I'm helping the kids with homework, fixing a snack for them and getting dinner started, all at the same time.

And what am I doing? Bouncing around in the kitchen, from the table, to the sink, to the refrigerator, to the stove, to the computer, and back again... This is what I tell my clients NOT to do.

But I'm focused. On One Thing at a Time.

Two to five minutes at a time, however long it takes to do the task on hand at the moment.

The 'normal' afternoon routine in our house is on automatic pilot, after many months of tweaking and following my own advice to apply the STO System of Organizing. I just happen to throw in a new task of producing|editing|uploading a video at the same time, that's all.

Now I'm not telling you to try this at home ("do as I say, not as I do"). I think it helps a bit that I have a video production background (from many years ago) and that I had already spent many hours in the middle of the night to learn the video editing software.

So, I had a plan on how to create the video in the most efficient way possible. Maybe it wasn't the most high-tech or animated or graphic-rich video that I could have done, but, hey, considering the circumstances, I think it's OK for my first try at it. Plus, dinner didn't get burned either.

Here it is:



Special thanks to the followers on Twitter who responded to my original tweet for their Top 5 Things to Have on Hand When Stuck Inside on a Snowy Day:

@Mike_Wesely
@ProfOrganizer
@tammigirl
@radiomanmic

Here are their original tweets:


Are you following me on Twitter? Who knows, your tweet could be in my next video.

Eva's Edict: 5 Minutes Holiday Lists

Do you have your lists prepared for the holidays yet? If not, that's OK! We'll be working on lists today.

Today's Eva's Edict: take 5 Minutes to plan your Holiday Lists.

OK, ready? We're going to List Your Lists.

First, let's focus on which Holiday that you're working on (Thanksgiving, or Winter Holiday).

What lists would be helpful to you? Let's mention a few here.

(Note: You don't have to start filling out the details or the tasks just yet. We'll do that in the next step. Right now, we're just brainstorming what lists should be included in your Holiday Planning Notebook or folder.)

Jot down which of the lists below you think you might need. If you've completed Eva's Edict from yesterday, pull out your brainstorm notes to help you.

Budget - would it be helpful to create a budget? I would guess, Yes, in these times.

Card List - who are you sending greeting cards to?

Cleaning - what areas of your home need to be cleaned or organized for the holiday? Create a timeline and break down the tasks, so you're not overwhelmed.

Gift List - who do you have to shop for? Do you plan to make gifts?

Meals - do you do a lot of cooking for the holiday? Are you bringing a dish to a party? This would be the place to create a task list, timeline, menu and shopping list.

Resources - list of stores, websites, catalogs, services, etc. that will be handy to have on hand in one place

Special Events - are you involved in coordinating any special events such as concerts, school or religious programs, volunteer, etc.?

Supply List - what holiday supplies do you need to have on hand related to presents, wrapping, greeting cards, decorations, etc.?

Travel - do you travel during the holidays, or are you expecting guests who will be staying with you from out of town?

Can you suggest some other lists that might be helpful?

Do 5 minutes today of Holiday List brainstorming, then STOP.

You can now go about business as usual with the rest of your day.

The main thing is: to get started, start doing SOMETHING rather than nothing and to begin to Sort Things Out, one step at a time!

You can always contact me for moral support and extra guidance, Toll-free (U.S.) 1-877-708-0884. I'm here to help!

Contact me or leave a Comment below after you've done today's Eva's Edict and I'll feature your story here!

Have fun planning and let me know how you made out.

Regards,
Eva, www.Sort-Things-Out.com

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Eva's Edict: 5 Minutes Holiday Planning

Today, take 5 minutes to do some Holiday planning. Yes, just 5 minutes, that's it.














Your choice of Holiday:

- Thanksgiving

- Christmas

- Hanukkah

- Kwanzaa

- Other: Your Choice


First thing to get started, (for non-techie's) grab something to write with (pen, pencil, crayon, whatever's handy)

...and something to write on (dayplanner, notebook, 3 ring binder, or recycle some paper and re-use the back of the sheet).


For techie folks: Create a new file on your computer, PDA, or other hi-tech gadget/software/website of choice. Try www.BackPackIt.com

[Or, if you have a Holiday Organizing planner or system already in place, go ahead and pull it out to update it now]

Look at your watch or set the timer: 5 minutes is all we're going to spend on this today.

Ready? OK -

5 Minutes: Brainstorm! (or do an update if you already have existing system)

Write down anything that comes to mind in having to plan for your Holiday of choice.

If this is your first time planning, don't worry about the order of things. Just WRITE, WRITE, WRITE / TYPE, TYPE, TYPE whatever pops in your head as you think about Holiday planning.

Don't worry about spelling or being neat for this first brainstorm session, write fast and put down as much information as you can think of when planning for your Holiday. Write in the margins, use arrows, cross out, doodle, write sideways, whatever floats your boat.

After 5 minutes, STOP.

Now, find a "home" to put away your Holiday Planning information. Some place that you'll easily remember and have easy access to.

Now, get on with the rest of your day.

We'll take care of sorting out what you wrote, and do some more planning in our next session.

The main thing is: to get started, start doing SOMETHING rather than nothing and to begin to Sort Things Out, one step at a time!

You can always contact me for moral support and extra guidance, Toll-free (U.S.) 1-877-708-0884. I'm here to help!

Contact me or leave a Comment below after you've done Eva's Edict: 5 Minutes Holiday Planning and I'll feature your story here!

Have fun planning and let me know how you made out.

Regards,
Eva, www.Sort-Things-Out.com

Follow me on Twitter