Organizing the Sock Drawer

 

How do you “organize” the socks in your drawer?  Are you the one who just throws all of the clean socks in a jumbled pile into the drawer? Or, are you the one who rolls their socks into balls by turning them inside of each other?  Maybe you are the organized one and bought those nice little plastic drawer dividers for socks that can be purchased at Target or The Container Store. 

Well, I’m here to share a different way that may change your way of doing things that will not only save space in the drawer but extend the life of your socks elasticity.  I bet you think since I am a professional organizer I have some fancy drawer dividers or containers for my socks.  Not at all!  I don’t even have to sort my socks beyond athletic and dress socks because I buy all of the same kind for each category.  Once the laundry is done I simply divide into athletic or dress sock piles and then place each stack of socks in my drawer.  No more need to find partner socks just place them in a neat stack and grab the two top socks when needed.  This is a great system for when you actually have to throw one sock away and then are left with an odd sock.  No longer is that a problem with this system because you don’t pair your socks anymore. 

This system takes up so much less space in your drawer you will be amazed!  Also, for those who ball their socks up by turning them inside each other, this system will save the elasticity of the socks by not constantly having them stretched out during storage.  This seems to be a big problem with the dress socks. 

Try this new way of storing socks and give your feedback to the group, I would love to hear how it works out for you!

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, VA area.  www.enuffwiththestuff.com

Help With Socks

 

 

Are socks driving you bonkers?  I mean everything related to socks, washing them, then figuring out how to match them up with their mate, if it wasn’t eaten by the washer, and then to their owner.

 

My fellow NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) members and I recently had a discussion about how best to manage socks for our clients.  One member actually had a client who was so overwhelmed with all of the socks from her large family that she left an entire basket of socks on her organizer’s front porch to be sorted.  Everyone wanted to chime in on this topic because it is a problem for so many.  So you are not alone!

 

First of all, I would buy each family member a zippered mesh bag and their own laundry basket.  Each member would be responsible for putting their own dirty socks, turned right side out if they want them to get clean, into the zippered mesh bag.  Each person should be able to place full laundry basket at the top of stairs, outside of bedroom door in the hall or all the way down to laundry area, when they are low on clothes and need things to be washed.  Whether you wash each family member’s clothes separately or combined, they now have their own socks contained in a bag.  No more socks getting gobbled up by the washer or being mismatched with someone else’s socks.

 

From this point on you could just throw the bag of clean socks on top of the folded laundry and let the individual owner do the rest or you can take care of the matching since it will be so much easier now.

 

Also, another good way to keep socks easily identifiable is to buy each family member a different brand so that they all look different.  Another strategy is to buy all of the kids the same kind and mark the oldest child with a tally using a fabric pen then mark the second child with two tally marks and so on.  As the oldest outgrows the socks pass it on to the next child and add a tally mark.

 

How do you manage all of the socks in your family?  I would love to hear about other creative ways you handle the sock madness in your family.

 

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, Virginia area.  To contact Maria you can email her at maria@enuffwiththestuff.com

Are You Overwhelmed By The Big Picture?

Is everyone pumped up for a new year?  We have a new president in place now and hope for a better year to come for everyone.  Are you ready to make the changes in your home or office to make it a better, more productive and organized year? 

Don’t be overwhelmed by the big picture of what needs to be accomplished.  Try a technique that professional organizer and author of Conquering Chronic Disorganization, Judith Kolberg, sometimes uses with her clients when they are feeling like the task is too daunting to attempt.  She suggests that you look through a paper towel tube like a telescope so the field of vision is narrowed and you only see a small area.  Look around the entire room like this and then pick the area in which you want to begin.  If you continue to view the room in smaller zones you can feel more successful as you complete each area.

Every little bit you tackle is an improvement and you can consider it progress!

 

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn Virginia area.

Resolution Time in Ashburn!

Hello Ashburn!  Did you start the year out telling yourself that this time, this year I am definitely going to get organized?  Well, join the club of many who made that broad, sweeping statement without measurable benchmarks.

 What exactly does getting organized mean for you?  What will it look like when you are organized?  Do you even know what area of your home, room or corner of a room you want to begin with?  It can be a daunting task unless you set up small steps that can be measured and celebrated for being completed. 

Once you commit to making that change, don’t give yourself too many new routines to add or change in your day in order to maintain the organizing work you have accomplished.  Take baby steps here.  Start by adding one new adjustment at a time until it has become a habit.  This can take 3-4 weeks.  The best way to establish a new habit is to attach it to an already well established routine.  So let’s say that the recycling never gets taken out to the recycling bins because it just is always forgotten.  Find a part in your day that you do in a routine manner such as eat breakfast.  Now, instead of eating breakfast then putting dishes in sink then taking a shower, adjust this routine by eating breakfast, putting dishes in sink, and then taking out the recycling, then take a shower.

Remember to just take baby steps along the path towards a more organized you!

 

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, Virginia area.

The Wallet Wart

How many of you out there know a man walking around Ashburn with a “wallet wart”?  What’s a wallet wart?  That is what I call a man with what looks like a very uncomfortable growth on his, well, his bottom!  Do men not look in mirrors, ever?  Do they not feel like they have an appendage growing from a very strange place on their body?  Seriously, what are these guys carrying around in there?  I know, I know, women carry huge purses with everything but the kitchen sink and these poor guys have only a tiny little wallet system that must somehow contain the essentials. 

What’s a guy to do?  Well, one could use a “man bag” if they are extremely confident in their manliness and can take on anyone who would like to physically test that manliness; probably not a great solution for most.  There is also the fanny pack, but unless you are a messenger zooming around on a bicycle through the city streets, you probably couldn’t make it look good.

My solution is to carefully remove the growth from pants and then empty entire contents of wallet.  Receipts should be cleared out daily and put in a designated spot at home so if something does need to be returned you can fetch said receipt and then place it in a bag with the item, not your wallet!  How many credit cards do you need??  And really, in this economy you should only be spending money that you have, so cash or debit cards are a good way to eliminate the urge to impulse buy!  Of course, you must have a driver’s license, car registration (don’t keep this important little piece of paper in the car) and, hopefully, an insurance card in your wallet.  You should still have room in the wallet for some of those miscellaneous cards for various memberships such as the gym, library, and grocery stores.  And finally, you would keep a picture or 2 of your loved ones but more than that and you’re risking the re-growth of the “wallet wart”. 

So if you discover during this procedure that you are the owner of half a dozen credit cards and possibly a dozen or more membership/frequent user cards, then you can start to see why you have been walking around with such an unsightly growth.  Be brutal with your selected cards and only put back the ones that are actually used on a regular basis.  The other membership cards could possibly be kept in and envelope or spare wallet in the glove box of your car so on those rare occasions you happen to find yourself at the House of Crepes or the Tie Warehouse, you will have easy access to the cards while keeping a profile to be proud of!

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in Ashburn Virginia.

Ashburn, Are you recycling?

Everyone in Ashburn should be trying to do their part with recycling because how we treat our earth today will be our legacy to pass on to future generations.   I know the excuses for not participating in recycling are all on the tips of many of your tongues.  Some of them probably sound like:  I don’t know what is recyclable; I don’t have the time; I don’t know where to take it; It isn’t a big deal if I don’t recycle this item, I’ll do it next time; etc, etc.

For those of you who don’t know what is recyclable or where to take things, there is a great site called www.earth911.org.  All you have to do is type in what it is you would like to recycle and your zip code and up pops a list of local places for you to take the items.  There is also a place called the Loudoun County Landfill and if you ever have questions about what you can recycle you can call them at 703-771-5500, or log onto http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=749 where it will answer all of your questions about recycling in Loudoun County. 

For the excuse of time, let’s just say that your basic weekly recycling requires VERY little effort.  Just throw all of your paper, plastic, glass and cans into the appropriate containers and set them out at the curb each week. It doesn’t take any more time to put recycling bins out at the curb than your trash tote.  If you begin to really pay attention to what is recyclable you will end up with more recyclables to be picked up than trash.  We have trash pickup two times a week in my neighborhood and it takes us about two weeks to fill an entire large trash can, where as my three recycling bins are usually overflowing by the weekly pick up day.   As for the hazardous waste items, yes that requires a little more effort on your part but well worth it when considering the safety of our environment and drinking water supply.  The easiest thing to do is begin collecting all of your hazardous waste items in a large plastic bin with a lid and once the bin is full, check on line at the Loudoun Co. website to find out the dates and locations of various community collections and then TAKE the bin to that collection site.  How often would that have to occur, maybe once a year?  Not really a massive time commitment. 

Now as for the “It’s no big deal if I don’t recycle it this time” excuse, let’s just take a look at some numbers:

Did you know that in the Rain Forest, 100 acres of trees PER MINUTE are being cut down?  Please use both sides of your paper before recycling.

 Motor oil can be cleaned and reused over and over again which can help us reduce our need for foreign oil, and keep our water supplies clean and contaminate free.   Your one bottle of motor oil that you threw away because you didn’t feel like recycling it just contaminated 2,000,000 gallons of water!

 Mount Rumpkie at the Rumpkie Landfill in Ohio is over 1,000 feet tall and is the highest geographic landmark in the state.  That one box you didn’t bother to recycle just may make a big difference in your own local town geographics!

Check out your own carbon footprint and get more tips for living green at: www.conservation.org/ecofootprint.

 

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, VA area.   

 

 

Why Should Ashburn Get Organized?

Let’s be honest, most people don’t get excited about the prospect of getting themselves organized, unless they are professional organizers!  But when you look at some of the reasons why you should get organized, you may have a renewed positive attitude towards the task.

#1:  You will save money.  How many times have you had to purchase a duplicate of something you knew you had but just couldn’t get your hands on when you needed it most?

#2:  You can reclaim days back in your life.  Even if you only waste a measly 15 minutes a day looking for things, you are wasting eight days a year out of your life.  You could better spend that time on a vacation!

#3:  You will project a more professional image of yourself.  If you are missing deadlines for projects, late for meetings, losing call back numbers for clients, unable to locate important information when you are called upon to present it, then you are not projecting much of a professional image to your superiors, colleagues or clients, and more likely losing everyone’s confidence and respect.

So do yourself a favor and get organized, you will save yourself money, time and your career!

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, Virginia area.

Ashburn Women Can Have Organized Purses!

Ashburn women listen up!  There is a way to have an organized purse, finally.  There are some great options of purses and inserts that were created specifically for the purpose of keeping all of us women super organized.  Some are on the expensive end, some a little more practical.

The first purse is the I Bag found at http://www.theibag.com.  There are a variety of styles but on the whole they are very casual.  The idea with these bags is that they have lots of internal pockets and some also have a number of external pockets, so there is a place for everything, and everything should be in its place when you need it.  No more fumbling around the deep dark abyss of your purse trying to locate your keys or cell phone.

Another more expensive option is the Butler Bag found at http://butlerbag.com.  This bag is small and very stylish but with all of the internal dividers you can easily keep everything neat and tidy and very easy to find.  A few fellow professional organizers have commented that they would never go back to a regular purse again.  It is definitely a splurge for some but maybe worth it if can alleviate the stress of not being able to find things.

The next item to help keep us all organized is the Pouchee found at http://shop.pouchee.com.  This is an insert for your own purse that has pockets for cell phones, sunglasses, coins, credit cards and internal dividers to keep other items more neatly organized.  The best feature of this item is that it is designed to hold all of the essentials so that when you want to change out a purse all you have to do is pull the Pouchee out and place into your new purse.

My own personal solution to the disorganized purse is a bit of a combination of the above choices.  I always buy purses that have several separated sections including little internal or external pockets for cell phone and glasses.  My solution for keeping things tidy within each section of my purse is to group like items together into small zipper bags.  For example, my lipstick, breath mints and the like are together in one small bag; my pens and small notebook in another.  My cell phone and business cards each have a pocket within the purse itself.   My wallet has its own section of the purse.   The small zipper bags are also a great solution for those women who just can’t give up the large sac like purses in which everything just ends up at the bottom of the bag buried by the rest.  If you remember to designate a zipper bag for each category of items you will always know which bag to grab when you need a Band-Aid for that blister or a nail file for the broken nail!

Maria White is a professional organizer with ENUFF WITH THE STUFF in the Ashburn, Virginia area.  To contact Maria you can email her at maria@enuffwiththestuff.com

Organizing Ashburn Yards

Organizing your yard is just as important as organizing the inside of your home, especially if it is on the market.  The front yard is the first thing potential buyers will see and they will be making a snap judgement based on what they see.  If it is a well maintained and manicured yard people will think that the home has been properly cared for.  The inverse of this is also true.   If you have weeds growing all over or empty flower pots and toys sitting around, people will assume you don’t take care of things.  This will translate into their overall impression of the home and create concerns that the inside is probably not properly taken care of either.

Make the best first impression you can by clearing everything that is unnecessary in the front and back yards, and keeping the grass mowed and weeds at bay.  Step back and look critically at the front and back of your house. 

Does the siding or brick need a power washing? 

Do the shutters and trim need a little paint? 

Are there large bushes blocking windows?

Are the house numbers and lamp posts rusty or hard to see?

Does the garage door work properly and look it’s best?

Do you have unsightly plastic edging popping out from around your plant beds?

Do the plant beds look over grown and jungle like?

Is the porch clear of clutter? 

If you can address all of the above issues, when people approach your home they will be thinking that you must really take care of your home and will be less likely to worry about potential problems that could be lurking.

3 P’s To Organization- Step 3

The first 2 steps to organization discussed so far have been Purge and Pair.  We must first purge unnecessary items from the space, then pair like items, or items with a similar purpose, together.   The 3rd and final step is to Place items back in the space.

This is the step where you have to think about the purpose of the things being returned and how they will be used in the space.  What you don’t want to do is haphazardly put everything back in the room.   Think of the room as having zones.  If this is the family room, you may have a game table so all of the games should be located near the table.  If you have a comfy reading chair in the room, there should be a place to store the paper, magazines or books.  If this space is also used for T.V. watching and gaming, then all of the movies and gaming equipment should be grouped together in an orderly fashion near where it will be used.  If everything is easy to find and has a designated home then it increases the chance that things wil be used more often and then returned to their proper home.  This method of zones will work in every other space in your home too.

So over all, the 3P’s to organization are pretty simple but require time and patience to tackle each step.  Remember to create small goals and reward yourself once each is accomplished.  Nobody wants to tackle a big job without some sort of payoff at the end.  Make it the process fun by enlisting a spouse or friend and play some upbeat music and go to it.  If you have to tackle the process alone ask a friend to check in with you periodically to keep tabs on your progress and give you that accountability to keep on going.  If you are the competitive type, you might even try setting time frames to accoplish the small goals and try to beat the time.  Do anything that will make it more motivating for you so that you reach that final goal of a well organized space.

For more information on organizing visit my other blog topics or check out my website at www.enuffwiththestuff.com.