Posts by Jill Annis | Simply Organized
Fall Maintenance Checklist Part 2: Indoor Tasks
Fall is a fun season with apple picking, corn mazes, pumpkin carving, and bon fires. It’s also a time to prepare for winter. I’ve put together an indoor home maintenance checklist for fall. Clean carpets if needed. Clean wood floors. Change furnace filter. Have furnace inspected and tuned up. Have your chimney swept if you…
Read MoreFall Maintenance Checklist, Part 1: Outdoor Tasks
Fall is a beautiful time of year. Colorful trees, cooler temps and apple pie! It’s also time for certain maintenance chores if you own your home and live in the northern half of the U.S. Here is a checklist to follow as you prepare for winter. Winterize sprinkler system, if applicable. Bring in garden hoses…
Read MoreA client makes an unconventional decision
Deferred decisions or the lack of decisions tend to cause disorganization, clutter, and chaos! Think about it, if you don’t make a decision about whether to keep something, decide where to put things, decide on commitments/activities to participate in, decide to maintain organization, or decide to ask for help you aren’t going to change your…
Read MoreOrganizing Memories
Everyone has mementos from the past. If you have children you may have even more mementos from their past. We sorted through our daughter’s mementos this summer, before she headed off to college for her freshman year. Unfortunately we didn’t eliminate many memories from her box but we enjoyed looking through them. Tips for organizing…
Read MoreSimple Tips for Organizing Your Inbox
How many e-mails are in your inbox right now? If your answer is more than 25, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed. If you answered 1000 or more, you are not alone. This is something I frequently hear. I try to keep my inbox fairly empty so I don’t feel overwhelmed and exhausted every…
Read MoreFavorite Organizing Tool #5
Bags. Especially paper bags with handles! Why are bags one of my favorite tools? They are the perfect size and sturdy enough to hold a variety of items. It’s also an easy way to reuse the bags. I use paper bags to hold my donations for my favorite charity…
Read MoreFavorite Organizing Tool #4
The basic laundry basket. Why is it one of my favorite tools? It’s a useful organizing container for many areas of your home, not just the laundry room. I’ve used laundry baskets to hold balls, sand toys, and more in client’s garages, for toys and dress-up clothing in play rooms, and in closets as dirty…
Read MoreFavorite Organizing Tool #3
The Sharpie, or any permanent marker. Why is it one of my favorite organizing tools? It’s permanent, quick to label and writes on most surfaces. I carry one in my back pocket while working with clients and have written directly on the container or used masking or duct tape to create a quick label. Do…
Read MoreFavorite Organizing Tool #2
Plastic food containers. Square or rectangular. Why are they one of my favorite organizing tools? Because they are affordable, keep a category of items together, reusable, and also are fun to play with. They were a better source of entertainment for my daughter than her toys. I’ve used plastic food containers in my pantry as…
Read MoreFavorite Organizing Tool #1
The zip top plastic bag. I always have these bags, in several sizes, with me when I work with clients. Generic or name brand….it doesn’t matter. Why is it one of my favorite tools? Because it contains a small group of items together, it protects it’s contents, it’s inexpensive and it may be washed and…
Read MoreDo you over-organize?
I believe it’s possible to over-organize and create too much of a good thing. We see ultra organized spaces in magazines, on the internet and television and then think, I want my house to look like that! What we don’t realize is that it’s very difficult to maintain an ultra organized area and we may…
Read MoreI’m fairly normal
Professional organizers are fairly normal, lead normal lives and even have messy homes. Sometimes my clients ask about the state of my house. Is it perfectly organized? Are all of my containers and shelves labeled? Is my clothing closet organized by color? The answer is NO. Even though I’m passionate about organization and enjoy helping…
Read MoreYou might be a professional organizer or love to organize if…
Because I’m a professional organizer who enjoys eliminating clutter and craves order, I have a few characteristics that may seem odd. You might be a professional organizer OR love to organize if…. You’ve been caught labeling your daughter’s Barbie’s Dream home so Barbie can find her stuff. Trash and recycling day is your favorite day…
Read MoreGrateful for clutter?
It’s not unusual to feel burdened by clutter but there are times when our abundance can invoke feelings of gratitude. We live in a country where many of us have all the stuff we need plus much more. Acknowledge your abundance and share with others in need, when possible. Here are 3 ways to…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #9
I really encourage you to avoid mistake #9 because nothing good will come of it. Mistake #9: Beating yourself up for making organizing mistakes. Don’t give yourself a hard time for letting your house or office become unorganized or messy. Solution: We are human and we make mistakes. Instead of dwelling on mistakes, say to…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #8
Mistake #8: Giving up. You have a rough spell or life is just hard so you give up on organization or maintaining. Solution: Sometimes life happens, things don’t go as planned, we get sick, ect. Sometimes we backslide into our old ways of doing things. With any new habit it takes time, at least…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #7
Are you outgrowing your space? You may be making mistake #7. Mistake #7: Keeping too much. More stuff requires more space and more of your time for maintenance. If you are having a difficult time maintaining organization and out growing your space you might be keeping too much stuff. Solution: Be ruthless when sorting…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #6
Have you organized an area only to have it return back to it’s original state within days? Mistake #6 might be the cause. Mistake #6: Lack of systems Solution: Systems will help you maintain the areas you have already organized. Think of a system as a routine or procedure for maintaining the area. You probably…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #5
Save yourself time and money by avoiding mistake #5. Mistake #5: Purchasing containers before you begin organizing. Let’s face it, it’s fun to shop for cute containers or buy them when they are on sale. Most of us have a stack of empty containers somewhere in our home, waiting to be put to use. We…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #4
There are 9 common organizing mistakes. Previous posts focused on Mistake #1, Mistake #2 and Mistake #3. This post will cover mistake #4. Mistake #4: Tackling too large of an area. Do you feel overwhelmed when looking at the photo above? Where would you even begin? Solution #4: Break your large project into small…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #3
Organizing mistakes are common. They may cost you valuable time, money and stress. I covered Mistake #1 and Mistake #2 in previous posts. Today we will look at Mistake #3. Mistake #3: Perfection. Does perfection prevent you from getting organized? Do you think, “it won’t be perfect so why even try?” Solution #3: Stop It! …
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #2
Would you like to avoid common organizing mistakes? I’d like to help you succeed by providing solutions to the 9 common organizing mistakes. Today we will look at mistake #2. Click here for mistake #1. Mistake #2: Believing you will need to set aside a large chunk of time for your organizing project. False! You…
Read More9 Organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Mistake #1
Blunders, mishaps, and mistakes are all part of human nature. They can also sabotage your organizing efforts. I’ll share tips for organizing success by covering 9 common organizing mistakes over the next 9 blog posts. Mistake #1: Not starting. Waiting until someday. Unfortunately “someday” is not a day of the week. It’s not on any…
Read MoreEssential Kitchen Organizing Tool #4
The 4th essential kitchen organizing tool is the Lazy Susan. Check out the 1st, 2nd and 3rd essential kitchen tool blog posts. I’m not sure about the history of it’s name but a Lazy Susan is a great addition to kitchen cabinets, pantries and refrigerators. If you aren’t familiar with a Lazy Susan it’s a…
Read MoreEssential Kitchen Organizing Tool #3
The canned goods, in my pantry, are visible. Instead of hiding behind one another I can see the items in the back row and middle. Am I some sort of magical, organizing genius? I would like to say the answer is yes, but really all I did was purchase a tiered spice shelf and use…
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