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On Task Organizing’s Top 10 Posts of 2019

Published: December 25, 2019

As the new year is about to begin, here’s a look back at the most popular posts of 2019 from the On Task Organizing blog, ranked in order of page views:

10. How to Get Back to a Normal Routine After the Holidays: Tips for winding down after the holidays and preparing yourself for success in the new year.

9. 7 Reasons to Organize Your Linen Closet: Disorganized linen closets are common, and in this blog, I offered reasons to motivate readers to organize their linen closets.

8. Organized Adulting – Organizing Your Space: In the spring, I published an e-book to help those “adulting” to become and stay more organized when moving into a new place.

7. Repurposing a Coat Closet: A coat closet doesn’t need to hold coats! I talk about the ways you can repurpose a coat closet for a variety of other purposes.

6. 6 Tips on Selling Your Stuff: When you’re looking to sell excess stuff, appraisers, estate sales, online sellers and consignment shops can help you in many ways.

5. How to Handle Emotional Types of Clutter: Emotional types of clutter are objects linked to significant memories, experiences, or people in your life. These are some of the toughest things to declutter.

4. My Favorite Kitchen Organizing Products: Kitchens are one of my favorite rooms to organize. In this blog, I suggest many wonderful organizing products available to help improve organization in kitchens.

3. Organizing Your Music Collection: I discuss ways to organize physical media like vinyl records, audio cassettes and CDs, and also ways to manage digital music collections.

2. Marie Kondo, A Professional Organizer’s View: I wrote this when the Netflix series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” had recently premiered. It seems many people were interested to read my take on the series.

And the top post on the On Task Organizing blog in 2019 is…

1. What is Household Management?: I was surprised that this was the most popular post, but I am glad it was because it is such an important topic! I wrote this after earning my Specialist Certificate in Household Management through the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals.

What was your favorite On Task Organizing post this year? What would you like to see in 2020? Let me know in the comments!

10 Reasons to Organize Your Photographs

Published: December 18, 2019

Many people have a collection of printed photographs that they’d like to organize, but have not been motivated to tackle the photo organizing project yet. If you have piles, boxes, or albums full of printed photos, consider these 10 reasons to organize your photographs:

1.To be able to find a particular photo when you need it.

2. To easily share photos with others.

3. To keep your photographs safe.

4. To make genealogy research easier.

5. To select and display your favorite photos in frames.

6. To scan the photos to preserve them digitally.

7. To create scrapbooks.

8. To be ready for a photo montage for events such as graduations, weddings, anniversaries, retirements, or memorial services.

9. To select your favorite photos to be displayed in frames.

10. To archive your ancestors’ pictures as a part of your family history.

The main benefit of organizing anything is that you and your family will save time searching for items, resulting in less stress and chaos. If you live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and need hands-on organizing assistance or want a do-it-yourself plan, I’d love to help you. If you live elsewhere, I offer virtual organizing services via FaceTime and Skype to help you with any size organizing project. Please contact me for a free phone consultation to get started.

My Favorite Keepsake Organizing Products

Published: December 11, 2019

Some of the our most precious belongings are the sentimental things, those keepsakes and mementoes we’ve collected throughout our lives. When working with my organizing clients, I often find keepsakes scattered throughout the home, or stored in a way where they could collect dust. Using storage products to protect and organize your keepsakes will help to preserve those mementos for years.

Here are some of my favorite keepsake organizing products:

Memory Boxes

Photo Boxes

Photo Albums

Scrapbook Albums

File Boxes

Art Portfolios

Lidded bins

3 Ring Binders

School Memory Books

Shadow Box frames

Choosing the right storage products for your keepsakes depends on the type and amount of items you are storing, and your available storage space. If you’d like personalized assistance and guidance in organizing your keepsakes and memorabilia, please contact me for information on my in-person organizing services or virtual organizing services.

On Task Organizing, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Declutter & Organize When Moving to a Senior Living Community

Published: December 4, 2019

Declutter and Organize When Moving to a Senior Living Facility

As a professional organizer, I often help people when they are going through life transitions. One life transition where the need to declutter and organize arises is when someone is preparing to move to senior living community such as independent living, assisted living or a nursing facility. This is an emotionally difficult time, and often health challenges can make the task of decluttering to prepare for a move even more daunting. Usually, this person, or couple, has decades of belongings in a larger space, and suddenly needs to pare down and move to a much smaller place.

Here are some of my tips to declutter and organize when moving to a senior living community:

Look at a Floor Plan of Your New Place

Look at the square footage, layout and floor plan of the space you are moving into. Understanding this difference in size will help you to determine how much you can reasonably keep and fit into your new place.

Select Furniture

Take measurements, and determine which pieces of furniture will fit in your new place, if you’re bringing any with you.

Determine Priorities

Decide where you’d like to start with sorting and decluttering. You may decide to declutter room by room, or to declutter by category such as clothing or papers.

Sort Accordingly

Sort all items by type, and then choose your favorite things to keep. If you need assistance with this, contact a member of The National Association of Organizing and Productivity Professionals.

Keep Your Cherished Items

Keepsakes are important, so keep your most cherished items, but understand that you will probably need to pare these down due to space constraints. Create memory boxes that will reasonably fit in a closet or shelf in your new place.

Keep Useful Belongings

As you sort through your belongings, ask yourself, “Will this be useful to me in my new home?” You may find that some things will not be useful. For example, one of my clients moving to an assisted living place with a dining room that served 3 meals a day did not need to keep most of her cooking supplies.

Ask Family & Friends

Once you’ve decided what you’re keeping, first ask friends and family if they want any of the furniture and household items that you are parting with. Make sure they schedule a time to pick up these items.

Contact a Charity

If you’d prefer, you can contact a non-profit charity of your choice to see if they’d like your donations. Many charities will pick up large donations from your home.

Contact an Estate Sales Company

If you have valuable items and prefer to sell your belongings quickly, contact an estate sales company to sell the items for you.

Contact a Senior Move Manager

For further assistance, contact a member of the National Association of Senior Move Managers to help you with the transition to your new senior living place.

With the help of your friends, family, neighbors, local charities, estate sellers, professional organizers and senior move managers, this emotionally difficult life transition can be less overwhelming.

12 Reasons to Organize Your Dining Room

Published: November 27, 2019

If a dining room is not used regularly, it can easily become cluttered with a variety of papers and other items. There are many benefits to organizing your dining room. Here are 12 reasons to organize your dining room:

1.To reclaim your dining table from the clutter that has piled up on it.

2. To save money by not buying things you already own but cannot find.

3. To be able to host meals on holidays, such as on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

4. To keep your fragile china safe and organized in a dining hutch.

5. To make sure your silverware is polished and ready to use.

6. To make an organized home for items you regularly use in the dining room such as tablecloths, napkins, placemats, candlesticks and candles.

7. To be able to throw more dinner parties in your home.

8. To make the room easier to clean because there is less clutter.

9. To be able to play board games at the dining table.

10. To have a place to work from home (if you don’t have a home office desk).

11. To have a place for children to do homework (if they don’t have a desk).

12. To make it easier to redecorate the room.

The main benefit of organizing any area is that you and your family will save time searching for items resulting in less stress and chaos. If you live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and need hands-on organizing assistance or want a do-it-yourself plan, I’d love to help you. If you live elsewhere, I offer virtual organizing services via FaceTime and Skype to help you with any size organizing project. Please contact me for a free phone consultation to get started.

Simplify the Holiday Season with Organized Gift Gathering

Published: November 20, 2019

The holiday season can be rather chaotic. Shopping during the busy season, and making sure you have a gift for everyone, along with wrapping and possibly shipping those gifts can cause stress during the season of giving.

One way I’ve helped some of my clients to prepare for the holidays in advance is by creating an organized system for gift-gathering throughout the year. Not everyone will want to do this, but if it is of interest to you, here are some of my tips:

Make a List of Gift Recipients

At the start of the year, make a list of everyone you gave gifts to last year. Of course, you may have some new gift recipients in the upcoming year, but this list will give you a good idea of how many gifts you want to buy. List everyone here, even if it was just a small gift for the babysitter or dog walker.

Gather Any New Gifts You Already Have

Many of my organizing clients have had a collection of new gifts gathered in their home. These may be random things they picked up over the years, or it could be something they’ve decided to re-gift. Look through your home and gather all of these new gifts together in one place. Designate a section of a closet or cabinet to hold this collection.

Match Up these New Gifts to Your List of Gift Recipients

If any of the gifts you already own would be good choices for those on your recipient list, make note of that now.

Write Gift Ideas for the Other Recipients

For anyone who has not been matched with a gift, write down some gift ideas. Maybe your co-worker would like a candle or a scarf, write down whatever comes to mind.

Make a List of Places to Shop

Perhaps you can shop for everything online, or maybe there are certain stores that have most of what you want. Make a list of these places, and plan to go to them to gather your gifts.

Shop for Gifts Throughout the Year

This is a good choice for the budget conscious, and by shopping sales throughout the year, you can save, as long as you stick to your gift-giving list and don’t overbuy.

Do a Late Fall Assessment

Prior to Thanksgiving, look at your new gift collection and your recipient list, and finish up buying anything else now or on Black Friday.

Organize Your Gift Wrapping Supplies

By creating an organized system for your gift bags, tissue paper, bows, gift wrap, scissors, tape and cards, it will be easy to find everything you need when it is time to wrap.

Organize Your Shipping and Mailing Supplies

Likewise, create an organized system for your shipping boxes, packing material, mailing labels and stamps. If your new gifts, gift wrapping supplies, and mailing supplies are in one place, it will be easier to select, wrap, and ship your gifts for the holiday season.