I have a secret paper passion. Perhaps it was because I grew up in the Paper Valley. But at the same time, I love having paper with me at all times. It’s extremely versatile. Here are 8 things that paper can be used for when you are out and about:

The Gum Catcher

Your chewing gum has lost its taste and is starting to make your jaws ache. Why spit it on the ground like everyone else does? Take a piece of paper out of your notepad and ensure the safety of other people’s shoes.

Scribble Pad

This is kind of like taking notes, but not. Let’s say you meet up with Mr. I’ve-been-meaning-to-talk-to-you who is now boring you with his latest scheme of whatsits. He is insisting you write down the information. Your only way out: scribble something on a notepad and head for the exit.

Kid Occupier

What parent hasn’t had to try and occupy a child during a wait? A piece of paper and a “grown up” pen can keep my daughter occupied for hours.

Bug Smusher

There is a really nasty bug crawling around the windshield of the car. The backseat, filled with Brownies, starts screaming. I don’t blame them. The thing is icky. And I certainly don’t want to touch it. Piece of paper to the rescue! One smush and the bug is history. (The kinder folk among us could use the paper to swoosh the bug out the open window).

Emergency Tissue

Your child sneezes as you are about to enter a restaurant. And not the nice, polite sneeze, either. This one is a double-barreled. No facial tissue in sight. What to do? A piece of paper can clean up, even if it is a bit stiff.

Sorry I Hit Your Car

Sometimes it happens. Someone parks you in, and you end up touching their car in a desperate attempt to break free. Paper can allow you to leave a note. Or to leave the note “People are watching so I’m pretending this has my name and phone number on it”. (No, I’m not kidding. Happened to my grandmother).

Bookmark

I never have a bookmark with me (although I own millions). And I abhor turning down page corners. A piece of paper can mark my place. And it adds interest with books I don’t read often, to find these odd papers stuffed in.

Fan

I live in the South, where it can get quite warm. Yet some public places are still not air-conditioned. A piece of paper can quickly be transformed into something that provides temporary relief.

Leave a comment if you have a non-typical use for paper on the run.

Photo by theilr

Focus essential,
eliminate distractions,
realistic goals.

During the past two weeks and this week, I’ve decided to offer a sampling of my tips on how to simplify and organize your home.

Books

• Purge what you aren’t going to read. Be honest. If you have had a book for a while, are you really going to read it? You might find that getting rid of things you really have no intention of reading may lighten your load a bit.
• Purge what you’ve already read. I re-read books. Yet I have gotten rid of many books that I will probably re-read in the future.
• Group books in a way that makes sense to you. If you group by subject, author or series, do so. Don’t worry about having the perfect filing system.
• Get rid of old textbooks. If you’re no longer in school, you probably don’t need your textbooks anymore. Most people (myself included) have hung on to textbooks and notes for far too long. Purge what you can. I have a basic statistics book, my trig book, and two algorithm books. All of which I have referenced in the last five years.

Computer Software

• Keep software media in binders. This is a bit trickier than with DVDs or CDs, because often you will need some sort of code on the package casing. Keep that code with the media, or write the code on the media itself.
• Purge media you can’t read. It does no good to hang onto floppies or zip discs that you cannot read. Get rid of them.
• Clean off your computer. Needs change. Get rid of software you no longer use. Clean out old versions of software. Defragment.
• Get rid of bad pictures. It seems that people keep digital pictures of a quality they never would have tolerated on developed film. Remove poor pictures from your hard drive.

Cleaning Supplies

• Keep supplies where they are used. Even if this means duplicates. Keep bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom, kitchen supplies in the kitchen, garbage bags near the garbage can. You get the idea.
• Purge things that didn’t work. If you tried a cleaner and it didn’t work, get rid of it. (If it’s hazardous, dispose of it properly!) Just because you bought it doesn’t mean you have to keep it — especially if it doesn’t work well for you.
• Use old toothbrushes for detailed cleaning. An old toothbrush takes up very little room, and is great for cleaning small spaces.

Pantry

• Keep like items together. Keep your spices together (out of the light, please!) Same with oils, baking ingredients, cereals, etc. This makes it easier to find, and also to know what you have.
• Use baskets and boxes to group. Keep all your pasta in one box. That way you can find what you need quickly, and also prevent spills. I use baskets for pasta, baking chips, spices, snacks, bread “products” (crumbs, croutons, etc), and individual portions of fruit.
• Prevent orphaned canned goods. Put a system in place to make sure you use the oldest food first. It may be putting the new cans behind the old (my favorite) or writing the month and year on the can (my mother’s system).
• Don’t buy what you won’t use. Sure, the pickled whatsits may be on sale, but if no one in your house will eat them, there is no point in buying them. If you’d like to try something, buy one. If it’s a hit, you can stock up then. And don’t buy things because you “should” eat them.

Miscellaneous

• Use toothbrush holders to store things around sinks. I have a toothbrush holder in my kitchen that stores my veggie brush, my dish brush and the kitchen-cleaning toothbrush. There is one in my bathroom holding makeup brushes. My husband keeps one to hold drying paintbrushes.
• Re-purpose old boxes for grouping items. This isn’t just for pantries. Drawers can be organized with old jewelry boxes. Under-sink spaces can be organized using old dishpans.
• Fold towels to fit. Fold towels and other cloths in a way to fit into your space. My mother taught me to fold in a certain way. But my first home after marriage had a triangular linen closet (don’t ask, it was a weird place). Folding the way I was taught made the space unusable and likely to avalanche. Adapt to what you have.
• Use shoe holders to organize small stuff. I have a shoe organizer in our coat closet to hold hats and mittens. I also have one in my daughter’s room to hold small toys and stuffed animals.

When Joshua Becker of BecomingMinimalist contacted me about his new ebook, Simplify. 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life, I checked out his website. This is someone who walks the walk.

Joshua Becker embarked on a mission to simplify his life in a rational way. Simplify. 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life is the result of that process. In this book, Joshua shares his principles for making simplification work for ordinary people.

The Book

The book is laid out around seven principles, each of which plays into the overall process of making your life simpler.

Principle 1: Be Convinced

In order to make any change, you have to be convinced to do it. In this chapter, he talks about why you might want to simplify. Simplicity and productivity are intertwined very closely, and with less stuff, you will have more time.

Principle 2: Make it Work For You

Most methodology out there, be it productivity, simplicity, organization or cooking, insists that you do it their way. Joshua takes a different tactic. He espouses “rational minimalism”, meaning that everyone has different levels of simplicity. No two people are alike. It would stand to reason that individuals would have individual levels of comfort with simplicity.

Principle 3: Jump Right In

In this chapter, Joshua gets started with actually making the changes. Decluttering can be overwhelming, he points out. But rather than telling you to break it in small chunks, he tells you to go for the easy win. This means pick and area that is small enough to do quickly, but on whose successful declutter you can build.

This chapter is also where he talks about minimizing versus leveling. Leveling is when you move stuff out of the way, rather than get rid of it. This leads, in my mind, to the most dangerous types of clutter: the hidden clutter that you forget about.

The chapter is also loaded with tips on how to accomplish the often daunting task of paring down the stuff, and what to do with it when you’re done. I’m not sure I agree entirely with this. It has always seemed more important to me to get the stuff out of the house, rather than hanging on to it to sell in a yard sale, on eBay or on Craig’s List.

Principle 4: Stop the Trend

Once you have gotten rid of the stuff, you have to make sure it doesn’t come back. In this chapter he talks about consumerism as well as how to create a spending plan so that you don’t go back to where you were. Don’t worry – this isn’t about creating painful budgets, but how to tackle spending within your means.

Principle 5: Persevere

It’s not enough that you are at a point of being simplified. You have to keep working at it. In this next chapter, Joshua talks about filling needs that can turn into clutter (clothing) as well as some ideas on how to handle child toys and gifts.

Principle 6: Share the Joy

I have found that as I simplify, organize and declutter, people come to me for help. It will happen to you too. This chapter is about how to share the joy of living a simpler life.

Principle 7: Simplify Everywhere

This last chapter has something I have seen before and something new. The pickle jar theory of time management is shared, showing you that you need to keep focused on the big stuff in your life.

A new thing for me was the concept of the Tyranny of the Urgent. This theory, published way back when, talks about how we are more likely to deal with the things that are clamoring for our attention, rather than the things that are truly important. Simplification can help us avoid that.

Summary

I was honestly prepared to read just another decluttering book. But Simplify. 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life inspired me to get back into actively getting rid of the stuff. I started working on getting rid of things in my house that I had never considered getting rid of before, and my dining room table is piled high with things to be dropped off at the thrift store.

This ebook is an easy, quick read, and it flows nicely. It has some interesting differences from other decluttering books I have read, and presents the information in an accessible way.

Disclosure: Joshua sent me a free preview copy of the ebook in order to review it. Since I was so impressed with his message and the ebook, I also have become an affiliate for his ebook.

Last week, this week and next week, I’ve decided to offer a sampling of my tips on how to simplify and organize your home.

Mail

• Get rid of junk immediately. The best way to keep it from piling up is to never let it get started. Discard hand-shredded junk before it even gets in your house.
• Have one place for mail. Mail gets lost if it is not kept together. Have one place that you keep mail, and be consistent.
• Process your mail immediately. If you process your mail every day, it will never pile up.
• Reduce the amount of mail you receive. Most places offer paperless billing, cutting down on those things you receive. You can also reduce the amount of junk mail and catalogs you receive by using services such as Catalog Choice.

Media

• Get a binder to hold media. We replaced an entire shelving unit filled with CD cases with five binders. We donated the cases to the local library.
• Burn your media for portability. Rip your CDs and use an MP3 player. Store the unused CDs away. Note: I do not recommend getting rid of your media, because if you do, the MP3 backup is no longer a backup, but an illegal copy of media you no longer own.
• Thin out your collection. If you look at your music and movies, I’m sure you will find some that you no longer use. Get rid of it.
• Purge software regularly. Every time you upgrade anything on your computer, do a software media check. Get rid of anything that is not useful on your current operating system, or on media which you can no longer read. Also check for outdated copies of software (do you really need to keep Turbo Tax from 1995?)

Files

• Purge regularly. Files can become a black hole because they are out of sight. So they keep absorbing material. Purge your files at least once a year. Get rid of what you can, or what you can find readily elsewhere.
• Use a system that works for you. The experts disagree what is best. Use what works for you. If you prefer hanging files, use them! If you like manila folders, use them. If you like one box filing, do it! Don’t worry about what the experts say.
• Use a retrieval system that works. If you think alphabetically, use that. If you group by subject, do that. The trick to any filing system is making one that you can use to find your stuff again.
• Think before filing. Do you really need to keep whatever it is that you are filing? If it is something you need for tax reasons, or can’t be readily found elsewhere, go ahead and file it. Otherwise, convince yourself why you have to keep it.

Art Supplies

• Purge what you don’t use. If you have a hobby that you no longer pursue, get rid of the supplies to someone who will use them. Don’t let it hang around guilting you.
• Keep like things together. Put paints together. Keep brushes in the same place. Group things together so you only have to look in one place.
• Know what you have. One key to reducing art supplies is to know what you have so you don’t buy duplicates. Have an idea (or list) of what you have on hand so that you are not creating more to organize with duplicates.
• One in, one out. This applies to just about everything you buy, but I find it very handy to remember with art supplies. If I buy a new ink, I need to get rid of the old bottle. If I refresh my pen cleaner, the old one has to go. Same with markers, stamps, and scrapbooking supplies.

More next time…

Photo by evelynishere

Over the next three weeks, I’ve decided to offer a sampling of my tips on how to simplify and organize your home.

Kitchen

• Group like things together. Keep serving utensils in one place, silverware together, drinking vessels together.
• Keep things where they are used. Keep the coffee by the coffeepot, plastic kid’s tumblers by the fridge, potholders by the stove, cutting boards by the knives.
• Use racks to organize. Most department and home specialty stores carry racks to make the most of cupboard space.
• Minimize small appliances and keep them out of sight. If you use a small appliance only a few times a year, get rid of them. Keep them out of sight to free up the visual in the kitchen.

Bathroom

• Keep medicines together, away from the damp. Invest in a small medicine cabinet to keep medicines. Regularly purge to get rid of expired meds.
• Use drawer organizers to keep things neat. Dollar stores carry plastic baskets meant for drawers. Use them to corral brushes, toothpaste and makeup.
• Keep cleaners in the bathroom. You’re much more likely to clean if you don’t have to go to another area of the house for supplies. Keep disinfectant wipes, soap and a toilet brush in each bathroom. (Yes, that’s all I use to keep our bathroom clean).
• Eliminate excess linens. Have at most two towels for each family member and an appropriate amount for guests. Same for sheets and blankets.

Bedroom

• Purge clothing regularly. Remove worn, stained, torn and outgrown clothing to keep drawers uncluttered.
• Use empty luggage to store off-season clothes.
• Keep horizontal surfaces clear. Clutter breeds on horizontals. Keep them clear.
• Open things regularly. Clutter breeds in dark corners, out of sight. Review the dark cupboards regularly

Car

• Have a garbage bag handy. This makes it easy to put trash in one area.
• Empty the car regularly. Make it a weekly routine to remove things that don’t belong in the car.
• Keep a small folder for papers. Keep registration and insurance papers together in one place so you can get to them quickly.
• Curb the maps. Remove duplicate maps and ones you will not use again soon. (I purged my maps and found three of my current state, plus a state I have never visited and never will!)

More next time…

Photo by evelynishere

After my husband and I were married a few years we built our modest home and within a few short years found ourselves parents of 4 children. We were completely financially strapped. Obviously one would think that solution to this situation would be (and what most Americans do) is to have both of us work full-time to float our financial boat.

After pursuing all angles of this option it became clear to us that simplifying our lives made much better sense — both financially and for the best interest of our family. We crunched the numbers which told us that it would cost an exorbitant amount of money to have 3 children in daycare full time plus 1 in ‘before and after school’ care. We realized how much it would cost for me to commute, dress, plus all of the everyday conveniences working moms rely on. After the numbers were in black and white our decision was confirmed.

We then opted to sell a car (resulting in not having a payment, car insurance, gas, repairs etc.) The reality of this was that I even saved money from staying home and not running to store as often as I had before. I found creative ways to do everything!

I became more organized having lists of what we needed so that our trips were efficient when we did go out. Meals were planned so that we weren’t missing anything. The children learned to make their own fun instead of always being on the run.

After some time, I started hosting a playgroup at my house. Every Tuesday afternoon we would have friends over to play while the moms visited. This gave us a social opportunity brought straight to our door. This time was refreshing to the soul!

Since I didn’t have a car, I canceled my gym membership thus saving even more money. I began jogging each day and found that it kept me in shape for virtually free.

I had more time than ever before so I used a clothes line to dry clothing. I cooked and baked from scratch. I bought a few chickens, gardened, and started canning and freezing.

I soon realized that our decision to sell our car was having a wide reaching affect! I could trace back to our decision and see how I saved so much money that I never even counted on saving meanwhile creating a peaceful home for my family.

My children are now 12, 14, 15 & 18. We have since rejoined the 2 car families and I have joined the workforce part-time. I miss the simpler days yet I still practice many of the same money saving strategies that I acquired in my earlier years as a one car family.

Photo by Libertinus

An acquaintance of mine was eager to talk. It could have been out of a sitcom: a woman walks into a house, laden with bags. She announces: “I’m going to get organized. Look at all the containers I bought!”

Stop.

All that pretty containers will get you is a bunch of clutter stored in pretty containers.

I don’t agree with Flylady on everything (see Why Flylady Didn’t Work for Me), but this one I do: you can’t organize clutter. Putting clutter in boxes just gets it out of sight. It may not be visible, but somewhere in your mind it will be weighing you down.

Getting organized is one of the top resolutions people make every year. And every year, people fail at this, because they are trying to organize what they have, rather than getting rid of the stuff they don’t need.

Organization is simply applying the rule: “Everything has a place, and everything in its place.”

I will be re-organizing this year, and I have already started. But the difference is that I am decluttering first.

But Where Do I Start To Declutter?

I like a gut-level approach. I know when things bug me. So I decide I’m going to spend some time decluttering – I will usually take a look around the room I am in and figure out what bothers me most. For instance, I was in my bedroom recently and decided that my top dresser drawer really bugged me. This has turned into a junk drawer of sorts, so I spent some time clearing it out.

You can also do a systematic approach, where you cycle through the rooms and areas of your house and regularly declutter them.

How To Declutter

There are many ways to declutter, but the method I prefer is the pile/basket method. Here are the steps:

1. Get some containers or set aside space for piles. You are going to need four: keep, give away, throw away, put away. I like using boxes or baskets for the give away and put away. I usually have a trash bag for the throw away, and I just put the keep to the side, for it will go back in where it came from.
2. Pull everything out. The key to making decluttering work is not to tackle too big of an area. You need enough space to pull everything out of the area you are going to declutter.
3. Sort. Go through the pile and put it in one of the four categories. If you can’t decide right away on something, put it in the put away pile.
4. Put the keep items back. Clean out the space and neatly put the keep pile back in place.
5. Remove the garbage. Take the garbage out of the house.
6. Remove the give away. Put the give away in a place where you will get rid of it in the next three days.
7. Put away the rest. Here’s the key to successful decluttering. You have to have a space for everything. And you have to tell yourself you can’t dump your stuff in an area you’ve already decluttered. (Otherwise you run the risk of just moving piles around the house). If something ended up in the put away pile because you didn’t know what to do with it, think seriously why you can’t get rid of it. If you are still very attached to something that serves no purpose in your life, put it away, out of sight for a while. You’ll get back to it.

Once everything is decluttered, you’re going to find you don’t need all those storage containers. And things will be organized!

Photo by taberandrew

I’m a musician, both by training, and often by how I think. My life has a soundtrack, both of music and non-music, and there are a lot of things that I find in music that apply to everyday living. One of those things is concerto living.

Structure of a Concerto

A concerto is a form of music that was popular during the Baroque era (approximately 1600 to 1750 CE; think Bach and sons). It was usually written for a solo instrument with the backing of a group, and usually consisted of three separate parts or movements.

(I find the term “movement” fascinating, because it so aptly describes what music is: an experience the performer and listener go through together, moving through time.)

In a concerto, the movements are generally different speeds, as well as different keys, producing a different type of mood.

Concerto Living

It is helpful to me to remember that my life can be seen like a concerto. There are periods of happy music, mixed with different moods and tempos. Sometimes the music is turbulent, sometimes frantic. Other times it is peaceful and bucolic.

2009 was a slow and calm year for me. Will 2010 show the end of that movement? Or will I continue on in the same slow and pastoral pace and tone?

Photo by wlodi

One of my co-workers is wise beyond her years. She never seems to get flustered. During a recent episode where all was in chaos, she remained serene. I asked her how she did it. Her first reply was glib, but I pressed her further, and she responded that the key to her calmness was taking 10 minutes every morning and night and just breathing.

This is one of the forms of meditation I have come in contact with since studying inner peace, and it does work. You sit quietly and focus on your breath, in and out. It sounds easy, but in fact is rather difficult at first, as your mind will probably wander. When this happens, I have to remember to gently bring my mind back, rather than wrenching it away from the thoughts. The latter, as you can probably guess, is not very peace-like. As a go-to-sleep tape of mine says, “You will have thoughts, but you’re not obliged to think them.”

I can do this type of meditation in the evening with no problem. I find it a nice end to the day, and I generally sleep better after having done it.

However, I can’t do this in the morning. The few times I have attempted it, I have fallen back asleep. It doesn’t matter if I am sitting in bed, in a chair or even outside. I just doze right off.

A few days ago I had some extra time in the morning, and picked up my knitting, which happened to be right by the chair I read in in the morning. This is rather mindless knitting, not something that requires concentration. What I found was that I could concentrate on my breathing without danger of falling asleep because part of my mind and my hands were engaged in something that would not allow me to fall off.

For those of you who may have trouble with early mornings, this might be something to try. Find something you can do that uses your hands actively, but you can do without thinking too much about. And see if you can focus on your breathing while doing it.

Photo by knittinging