Organizing Wiz-Organizing Articles

Organizing Articles

As published in Domino Magazine, April 2006

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by Leslie Garisto Pfaff
As published in Family Fun Magazine, January 2005

If you want to see chaos theory in action, you probably don't need to look further than your child's closet. In homes across the country, it's an all too familiar sight: clothes hung willy-nilly, a top shelf jammed with who knows what, and shoes, hats, and toys strewn across the floor with no place to call home. But don't be too quick to blame your child; the real culprit could be the closet itself. "If it's hard for kids to put things away, they'll be reluctant to try," says organizing expert Ilene Drexler. With that in mind, we enlisted Drexler and two other tidy-up queens to help us design a kid-friendly makeover that can be adapted to any closet (no expensive construction required). Before you begin your makeover, work with your child to clear out anything that can be tossed, stored elsewhere, or given away. Then use the ideas on the next page to transform the remaining chaos into a thing of beauty.

Our Clean Team
• Ilene Drexler specializes in quelling clutter for families and kids and is the wiz behind The Organizing Wiz.
• Crystal Sabalaske, a frequent guest on HGTV's Mission: Organization, is the founder of Cluttershrink.
• Deniece Schofield is the author of Confessions of a Happily Organized Family (Betterway Books) and other related books.

1. Divide and conquer It's simple to find clothes--and put them away--when everything has its own special place, and our closet dividers (a) are here to help. To create yours, punch holes in craft foam shapes, then thread a pipe cleaner through each hole and twist it back on itself. Use a permanent marker to add a clothing category and arrow to each divider. Then twist the end of each pipe cleaner around the closet rod.

2. Tame shoe clutter "Kids are tossers, not stuffers," says Deniece Schofield, explaining her choice of a basket to hold shoes (b) over a traditional shoe bag or rack (we also added a basket for socks). "It takes too much effort to stick each shoe onto a form or into a pocket," Schofield says. "In the basket, shoes may be slightly jumbled, but at least they'll be penned up." To protect dressy shoes, stash them in individual see-through plastic boxes. (Baskets, about $8 to $14 each at department, discount, and craft stores.)

3. End hanger hang-ups "It's easier for kids to put clothes away on hangers made for their smaller hands and garments" (c), says Ilene Drexler. To color-code garments, or just brighten the closet, choose kids' hangers in various colors (available at national discount stores; ours were $1 for 5 regular hangers and $1.50 for 2 skirt/pant hangers with clips).

4. Go vertical To increase our hanging area, Ilene Drexler had us install a closet rod doubler (d) ($10, The Container Store; 800-733-3532; www.containerstore.com, click on "Closet," then "Racks and Wardrobes"). We also added a hanging storage bag (e) with open compartments for easy access to sweaters, leggings, even toys ($20, The Container Store). And the interlocking hanging hooks (f) keep hats organized and off the floor ($28, Hold Everything; 800-421-2264; Hold Everything).

5. Liberate the top shelf "Get better use out of high shelves and closet rods by providing your child with a small stepstool" (g), ($25, Target) says Crystal Sabalaske. That upper shelf is the best place for items your child doesn't use every day--dress-up clothes, second-tier toys, out-of-season clothing--stored in clear, labeled bins (h) ($4 to $7 each, Target). To handle hand-me-downs that are still too big, Deniece Schofield suggests a "grow into" box (i); if you can, store this box in plain sight (so you won't forget it exists) and go through it twice a year to see what fits.

6. Grab 'em and go "For quick hang-ups--like bathrobes or purses--install hooks or pegs on the side walls or door of the closet" (j), says Ilene Drexler. Hang them within your child's reach and make sure they're kid-friendly, with rounded ends (available at national discount stores; prices vary).

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By Ilene Drexler
As published in Small Room Decorating Magazine-November 2004

Being organized at the office involves managing a few key activities effectively:

Emails
Phone
Meetings

The increase in productivity from investing a small amount of time in efficiently managing these activities upfront is more than worth the result.

Email Management

Keeping up with the daily onslaught of emails is a major challenge for most of us, both personally & professionally. The following tips will help you manage the daily flow of emails:

Create an electronic filing cabinet, much like the physical cabinets you have, with electronic folders for category names
Once emails have been read and responded to (if an action is required), move the email from your inbox to your storage folders. This makes it easy to track which emails still need an action. Many companies impose limits on “inbox” size. By moving your mail out of your inbox to a personal folder, an added benefit is that the restriction on size will not interrupt your day at precisely the moment you need to send an email.
If your email program includes previous email content for that email string when replying, be sure to delete earlier versions of the string to avoid redundant emails filed. This makes it much easier to find the latest copy in the string when searching later.
If your email has an attachment file, detach and save it as a file in your electronic filing system for future reference, so you won’t have to go searching through your emails to find the file later. Relying on email subject headings can create a time consuming search for the file later.
If you frequently send the same type of email, save a copy as a draft or template that you can reuse over & over (changing the specifics such as name, date and amount for each email)
If a document is available electronically, but you refer to it frequently, print it and keep it in a hanging file or on your desktop.
Every 6 months or so, go through your folders and delete emails no longer needed. This will save disk space and make your searches more streamlined.

Phone Management

When you leave a voice mail for someone, if the issue you are calling about is a straightforward question, ask it on voice mail to avoid playing telephone tag. Also, encourage the responder to leave the answer on your voice mail if they miss you. However, if the issue is complex, do not leave a lengthy voice mail explaining the issue (out of consideration for the recipient).
If you know you will be in meetings or unavailable at certain times, let the person know o avoid voice mail telephone tag.
If you are in the middle of a complex task that requires an uninterrupted thought process, let voice mail answer the phone. Otherwise, take the call to avoid a pile up of messages to return later.
Phone messages should be responded to within 24 hours. If you have been too tied up to answer a question or inquiry, at least respond to the person who called to let them know that, and then give them an expected date by which you will have the answer for them. This way you still seem responsive, even if you cannot address their request immediately.

Meeting Management

When calling a meeting, always draft an agenda and attach it to the meeting invitation. The agenda will serve multiple purposes:
- Help attendees prepare for the meeting
- Provide a sense of time allocated to each subject, so attendees can be mindful of intended time allotments
- Focus attention on the key issues to discuss (in case the meeting agenda gets sidetracked)
- Demonstrate to others that you value their time & intend to make the meeting productive
This works equally well for small or large meetings, but becomes even more essential to productivity with a large meeting
After the meeting, it is helpful to prepare “meeting minutes”. The minutes provide a summary of the key points discussed, and the associated outcomes and action items. They serve as a helpful recap for the attendees, as well as others who could not attend, but who have an interest in the subject matter. A track record of accurate meeting minutes also helps to keep meeting size to a manageable volume, as all of the affected parties will feel less of a need to attend the meeting in order to understand its’ directional outcomes.
The day before the meeting, make sure to arrange for copying of any required handouts.
If co-workers are always dropping by for impromptu meetings, don’t hesitate to create a “Do Not Disturb” time to be used for those complex thinking projects, where being interrupted has a big impact on your train of thought.

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No one filing system works for everyone. In the end, the test of a good filing system is being able to find something when you need it. However, there are two basic set-up alternatives:

Establish categories for like items by subject (e.g., Hobbies)
Establish an index based system with files identified numerically by item (e.g., File 1=Document 1)

You can choose the method that makes the most intuitive sense to you. People who have trouble categorizing may feel more comfortable with the indexing approach. Regardless of which type of system you choose, if you feel overwhelmed about where to start, pick a group of papers in any pile. It does not matter where you start…..you just need to start with a manageable subset of paper.

When creating a filing system, it is helpful to keep in mind the distinction between active & inactive files. Active files are those which you must access regularly. Historic files are those that it is unlikely you will need to access, but which you must keep for record retention purposes (i.e., tax files). Your inactive files should not be kept in your active file space, if file cabinet space is limited. These files can be stored in boxes in an out of the way location (since you should not be accessing these files regularly). To create your active files, follow the steps outlined below.

Organizing By Category

Step 1: Sort & Discard

Review your papers and discard any papers you no longer need to keep. If you feel unsure about discarding an item, in order to make the decision easier, ask yourself what’s the worst thing that could happen if you throw it away? It helps to put things in perspective.

When you decide to keep a paper, sort the paper into various categories/piles. Use post-it notes to label the top page of each pile until a permanent file location/category name is established later.

Use categories that are broad for sorting. For example, if you have lots of information on various leisure interests, you can create a hanging file called “Leisure” (vs. creating a hanging file for every type of leisure topic in your papers).

If you have a major hobby such as photography, for which you collect a lot of information, create a separate hanging folder named “Photography”. This makes more sense (so that the “leisure” file won’t become too unwieldy).

You can create multiple interior file folders that reside within the hanging file folder, each labeled with the category sub-topic. This makes it easier to search by sub-topic. For example, within the “Leisure” hanging file category you might have file folders for the sub-categories of Art, Music & Reading.

Step 2: Determine Quantity Files Needed

Once you are finished sorting, count and double check the number of “piles” you have to keep. The number of piles equals the number of hanging file folders you will need for your active files. You should buy a minimum of the same number of interior file folders to insert inside the hanging file folders (more if you will have some categories with multiple sub-topics).

Step 3: Identifying/Labeling The Files

Create a set of hanging file folders and associated interior file folder(s) for each pile and its sub-categories.

In order to maintain the transition from active to historic status at the end of each year, the interior files should be labeled by subject and current year (e.g., Life Insurance 2004). This dating approach is best for those categories that involve monthly statements or bills.

For your hanging folders that do contain dated material, it is best to keep static papers that don’t change from year to year in front of the interior folders (e.g., the life insurance policy versus the quarterly invoices). This will make it easy to transition files from active to historical status at year end.

Step 4: Estimate file cabinet size

Once you put the appropriate papers in the files, you can get a sense of how many file cabinet drawers you will need. Using a single “Bankers Box” (heavy corrugated storage box) to stand the files up to measure the inches in depth needed is very helpful. These boxes are available at office supply stores, and also will serve later for inactive storage purposes).

The total number of depth inches you have equates to the number of file
drawers you will need in the file cabinet. Be sure to measure the depth of any file cabinet drawers you may be thinking of buying to ensure you’ll have enough space (allowing at least 4 inches in each drawer’s clearance for sliding & viewing files.

Suggested Category Headings

Automobile
Children
Computer
Credit Cards:
- Mastercard
- Visa
- Am Ex
- Discover
Education
Employer
Frequent Flyer Program
Fitness
Hobbies
Holidays
Life Insurance
Renter’s or Home Insurance
Business insurance
Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Disability Insurance
Long Term Care Insurance
Mortgage
Retail
Services
Legal
Finances
- Stocks
- Bonds
- 401
Subscriptions
Taxes
Travel
Utilities
Warranties/Instructions

Maintaining The System Annually

At the end of the year, transfer the past year’s interior files to inactive storage. Keep the same hanging file folder in place, and create a new set of interior file folders labeled with the New Year. Keep the “static materials inside the hanging file folders from the past year.

Index Based Organizing

Step 1: Discard & Pile

Review your papers and discard any papers you no longer need to keep. For the papers you need to keep, sort your papers into a single pile (no need to categorize).

Step 2: Create the File Index

For each one of these papers or related group of papers (if that relationship is very obvious to you), you will create a numerical file. You will then record File #1’s contents in an excel log (or other computerized tool) that describes the contents of the file. For example, if I have a utility bill from March 2004, you would make the description “March 2004 Utility Bill”. This file description will get assigned a random file number in a pre-identified location (i.e., File #1 in the office filing cabinet). Should you ever need to find this bill again, you would do an Edit/Find search in Excel and enter “March 2004 utility” to find it. The advantage of this approach is it does not rely on categorizing. When your May 2004 bill arrives, you can assign a totally unrelated file # to it.

You can create & record these indexes with Excel or Access by using their search capabilities. There is also a software program called “The Paper Tiger” from The Hemphill Productivity Institute that is designed for this purpose, and it adds some nice bells and whistles (like tracking files that have been pulled out but not put back). More information can be found at their website http://www.thepapertiger.com).

The major disadvantage of the indexing approach is that you must maintain many more files in your storage unit, as well as the data base descriptions to track them.

Other Filing Tips

You should have 5-8 “action” folders for bills to pay, things to do and pending matters. This serves as a holding place for things you have not had time to get to that week, but that still require action on your part. It is also helpful to have a action file for your calendar to keep things needed for events already recorded in your calendar (e.g., directions to event, handouts, etc.)
You can use color coded folders to visually identify subject categories
You can alphabetize your file folders by hanging folder tab name, but if you use staggered file tabs, you’ll have to redo the order every time you add or delete a subject.
Pendaflex, a leading manufacturer recommends that files should be no more than ≤” thick. If you need a file with a greater thickness, you can use the “box bottom” hanging folders.

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