• WHAT TO LET GO when organizing your home: If it’s not meaningful, OR you haven’t used it in a year, let it go. How will you know you won’t need it in the future? You don’t! You only know that you don’t need it right now AND you haven’t used it recently therefore you probably won’t need it in the future.
• WHAT TO KEEP when organizing your home: Most meaningful or most useful items should be kept. Simply said, that is the key!
• WHERE TO GET STARTED when organizing your home: Look over the ‘What to Keep List’ below and begin with YOUR #1 concern. Use the questions next to the links to clarify what you should keep:

1. Kitchen gadgets – Ask, “Where exactly is this going to go?”
2. Clothing items – Ask, “Do I really need more than ___ of this item?”
3. Children’s school keepsakes – Ask, “Is this a true favorite?”
4. Garage sports equipment – Ask, “Have I used this in the past year?”
5. Important Papers Retention Guide – Ask, “What is the worst that can happen if I let this go?”
6. Things of sentimental value – Ask, “Does this item best represent my memory?”

Each of the above links will give you some great information on organizing your home and will begin the forward movement you have been longing for. PLEASE, leave a comment and share with us which of the 6 home areas is easiest for you to keep organized and why. Others can learn from your experience!

IF you get stuck on what to keep OR if you’ve tried organizing on your own and just can’t do it, contact me, Vicki, at Organizing Mind over Matter. I am trained and experienced to help you with organizing your home spaces quickly and easily.

These two words have very opposite meanings. At dictionary.com we get the definition of both words:
n. clut·ter
1. A confused or disordered state or collection; a jumble.
v. or·gan·ized
2. To put together into an orderly, functional, structured whole.
a. To arrange in a coherent form; to systematize.

At the conclusion of a seminar I taught recently in Mapleton, Utah many people come forward to visit with me and some use this term, organized clutter, to describe their living conditions. I believe there is no such thing. Either there is Order OR there is Clutter.
_____________________________________
Tips to Prevent Clutter
Here are three simple questions to ask yourself before you bring
something new into your space:
1) Am I going to use it often?
2) Am I going to use it now, or in the very near future?
3) Where is it going to go?
REMEMBER THAT:
• everything must have a place and space is limited
• clutter can not be disinfected or sterilized…only reduced
• possessions are never as important as people

—————————————-

Problems can not be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them. — Albert Einstein   THINK ABOUT IT!
One of the best ways to prevent clutter, is to stop it before it starts.
The best way to stop it before it starts is to set up systems that meet your needs.  Remember that there is no such thing as organized clutter. Happy Organizing!

For organizing help

1. Begin with your PAST life history to date. Make it easy! Maybe a 2 pager on your computer.
2. Begin your paragraphs with the word “I”.
3. If you want to make it a more detailed writing, biography questions to get your mind thinking could include:

• What was your favorite place when you were a child?
• What is the most interesting characteristic you posses?
• What about my employment do you like or hate?
• What did you feel like your first day of school?

Two pages is all you need to catch up. If you would like more questions to get your mind working, click here to access my Personal History Questions. Once that is done, then you can move on to your CURRENT writing. Journal it! Here are my tips for journaling:

• Write one day a week for up to 1/2 hour
• Pick 3-5 of the most interesting weeks happenings
• Confine it to a certain space  (I use a 9” X 5”  notebook and put 1 week on one side of each page)

Once you have become comfortable with writing biography pages weekly , it is time to consider keeping a family history. I learned this formula for family history keeping  at a BYU education week class four years ago and have done it every year since. It takes me 2 hours a year to update from beginning to end. It really has been SO EASY for me. A down-loadable sample of the one pager follows, but these are the main parts of the page:

1. At the top include your name and the year
2. One photo from a very memorable event that year
3. A few sentences for each of the categories listed below:

• Family
• Health
• Home
• Church
• Employment
• Education
• Friends
• Holidays
• Vacations

Click here to download a sample of  My Yearly One Page Family History. For many years I thought I was just too busy to take on writing biography pages weekly or to keep a yearly family history. Then I learned the easy way to begin and maintain. Planning and upkeep make it sustainable. If you would like to begin your personal written biography or family history, these ideas may be just what you were waiting for!

Get started this week. Begin by investing 30 minutes this week in writing biography pages and presto/chango…no more guilt!

As a trained and experienced professional Utah organizer I see daily that organizing saves people just like you valuable time and money. My name is Vicki Winterton. I live in Provo, Utah and work with clients located in the Salt Lake and Utah Valley areas. I am both a home organizer and business office organizer with years of experience helping Utahn’s live a better life. In this Utah organizer blog I share a wide variety of organizing tips for organizing nearly everything including YOUR home, time, family, workplace and life. Even though my focus is Utah, organizer topics I share here can be applied anywhere.

Here are some tips concerning the use of this organizing website blog with postings drafted weekly by Utah organizer, Vicki Winterton:

1. Use the search box at the right to find blog postings with topics that interest you.
2. To visit my website, click on the home page link to the left.
3. Please leave a comment in the comment section near the title of any blog posting. I’d like to know you stopped by. By leaving a comment, you can also share your top tips with future visitors.
4. You are invited to use portions of my articles, posts, and lists.  Because the information posted here is copyrighted, be sure you meet these requirements. You MUST include:

• My name – Vicki Winterton
• My business name – ORGANIZING Mind over Matter
• My online organizing podcast name – The Organized Woman Show
• A link to my website  - www.organize-utah.com

Enjoy your time browsing my professional organizer tips and techniques. I’m Utah organizer Vicki Winterton. Please, come back often.

As a Utah orgainzer, Orem / Provo based, I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to address this group. I believe I was chosen to address this issue because my business has performed so well. Even in this tough economy, I tripled my client base and doubled my income in 2009. I am an experienced business strategist and my marketing campaigns have something to do with this, but the main reason my business has done so well is because I am very good at servicing a growing need. I replace disorder and stress with order and peace in my workplace based clients offices AND my home based business clients lives.

As a productivity coach and professional organizer, Orem / Provo based, I set up customized office systems for managing time, papers, data and office spaces that work immediately AND continue working as time goes on…plain and simple!

Below is the link for my promised business builders. Before you go any further, leave a tip for future blog visitors near the title of this post by clicking on comments and sharing a business building question OR a marketing tip that has worked well for you. If you just happened upon this post titled ‘Organizer Orem’ and did not attend my class, please share a tip with us before you read on. I am a firm believer in questions and answers. That is what a good business strategist does. Now that you have completed that request, click here to access the business building information I promised.

If you are interested in hiring Utah’s productivity coach/professional organizer, Orem / Provo based to help you simplify your life and better organize your office spaces, papers, computer data or time, OR if you would like to know more about marketing strategies for YOUR home based business, please contact me at ORGANIZING Mind over Matter.

Organize your Vital Records

In a nutshell, your most important papers are called vital records. Organizing important papers is essential and your vital records need to be easily assessable for them to be any good to you. Vital Records are papers with information that is crucial about you, your family, your home, your finances, your health, and your history. (Think: marriage certificates, social security cards, military discharge papers, life insurance policies, etc.) Most of us have had occasion to need specific information and documents at a moment’s notice. Maybe you’ve already thought about gathering your vital records together, but have never gotten around to it. Or, maybe you’ve tried to gather and organize your most important papers, but have gotten stuck. Some of the “roadblocks” to accomplishing this task are:

•we don’t know where to start or what to look for

•we’re not sure what needs to be kept

•the prospect of collecting all the data is overwhelming OR

•there is just too much paper to go through

Well, now is the time to begin Organizing your Vital Records with my 3 Step ACT formula:

First, ASSESS by taking a look at where you are and asking yourself:

1. Why haven’t I done this before?

2. Why do I need to get going on this project?

3. Where am I stuck and why?

4. What is the most important 1st thing I can do today to get all my vital documents in place?

You may recognize some emotional and accountability issues as you begin gathering these important papers—but don’t let them discourage you.

Next, CREATE  – Decide on a planning strategy. To begin the planning stage, I typically begin with six general document categories, then we sub-categorize those according to the needs of my client. Once you have decided on a plan, calendar the task. Begin with a beginning and completion date. Be realistic about the time you will need to invest in organizing your vital records. I would suggest you plan anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months to complete this organizing task. Be sure to work on gathering the needed information each week. Consider options for storage of your vital records by making sure your items are secured.

Step 3 in my organizing formula is TACKLE. This is the step most people actually associate with the project: digging in to the paper, sorting, categorizing, etc.

Your vital records can be housed on-site or off-site. Choose a container that will protect them from damage. For me this includes archival plastic sheets and a waterproof, fireproof portable safe. The labeling is critical! You also need to decide on a location for final storage of these important papers. Some considerations include: a home safe, off-site storage, a safety deposit box, etc.

As circumstances change, so will some of your vital documents (examples: durable financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, or living will). It’s a great idea to review your important documents ‘collection’ yearly. Be sure to let someone you trust know WHERE these important papers are kept, then review them together.

Often, we are left to deal with emergencies without the necessary knowledge and paperwork to make decisions and move forward. In times of tragedy, we find ourselves with mountains of important papers instead of being able to take the necessary time to reflect and mourn. Organizing your vital records is a MOST IMPORTANT organizing project. I am sure that the time and money you invest NOW in completing this project will offer you the security and calm of knowing where ALL your important papers are located. You don’t want to worry about retrieval of these important documents at a time when your emotions run high.

Peace of mind is worth a little time NOW, isn’t it? If you need my experience and help in Organizing YOUR Important Papers, please contact me. This project is one you want to make sure is done correctly.

Available for purchase in September 2010, my VITAL RECORDS ORGANIZER which can be purchased in the WIN store online. For further information listen now to my online show, The Organized Woman Show. Show number 031 deals with this very topic.

Join Vicki for any or all of the 3 classes she will be teaching during the month of January 2010 in conjunction with National Get Organized Month. The class information is listed below. If you have any questions about the Utah professional orgainzer, Vicki Winterton, and her organizing classes please contact us.

“I just wanted to say thank you for your time in teaching me about time management. As you promised, the “Action File” has changed my life. I’m able to stay on top of the paper mess that comes into my home. I knew the importance of daily maintenance prior to your class (I only learned this in the last year!), but you’ve taught me how to perform daily maintenance on the paper mess, not just tidying the house. Wow! What a great thing!” –Diane, 2009 UVUcommunity education class

To begin, make a list or a photo board of your successes this past year. Don’t be modest; make sure you note the learning and the progression that happened.

Next, begin the process of defining your new goals by setting up major goals broken into smaller goal steps:

1. Personalize your goals. Make them specific to you. Use the words “I” and “me” often. Realize you need to focus in on YOU in this step.
2. Write as if you had already accomplished the goal.  Use such terms as “I have”, “I see”, “I feel”, etc.
3. Adjectivize (my own word) the benefits of the Resolution. Use lots of descriptive words to explain the benefits of achieving your goals and resolutions. Words such as: calming, peaceful, energized, terrific, etc.
4. Calendar and schedule with (a) beginning, (b) progression, and (c) completion dates.

Reward yourself with prizes or recognitions of achievement not only when you complete your set goal, but also each day you actively work toward your desired resolution.

Complete THEN Repeat. When you have completed your first New Years Resolution, begin on goal #2. However grand the change we hope for, the vehicle for change is small, simple, daily steps that move us forward. It is the step by step changes each day and week that transport a new goal or resolution to completion. Change is ALWAYS hard for us to make. Be sure you  don’t overwhelm yourself by working on too many goals at once.

If you would like to receive my New Years Resolutions/New Goals Template, please leave a comment on this post and share with us what YOUR top three New Years Resolutions are this year. We love to hear from you!

Just think of it, for ½ the cost of a new desk or ½ the cost of a new TV set, YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE can receive the gift of peace! In fact, I guarantee greater peace of mind!

Imagine the opportunity to organize your home spaces or business office spaces so they are easily maintained for $500 or less at my special Christmas rates?

Suggest this gift option to those buying gifts for you OR give this gift to someone you love who has tried and just doesn’t have the know how to make it happen on their own.

Organizing Gift Certificates Available

Contact me now for organizing help once and for all at 801-623-8411

]]> http://www.organize-utah.com/2009/11/are-you-tired-of-living-in-spaces-that-are-cluttered-and-disorganized/feed/ 3 http://www.organize-utah.com/2009/10/the-organized-woman-show/ http://www.organize-utah.com/2009/10/the-organized-woman-show/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:14:17 +0000 Vicki Winterton http://www.organize-utah.com/?p=1892 I was interviewed on the WIN Show (The Womens Information Network) this month because I am a show host with The Organized Woman Show. In the interview, we talked about how my FREE WIN online radio show, The Organized Woman Show, can benefit listeners in their lives. We touched on systems for organizing your shoes, systems for organizing your papers, systems for organizing your time, and how to organize any portion of your life.  To watch the interview, click the title here: The Organized Woman Show with Vicki Winterton.

My show co-host, Laura, and I record and upload 8 new shows a month. Our shows talk you through the steps to plan and organize your spaces, your papers, your office, your family, your personal time, etc.  If you would like to be notified by email each time a new organizing show is available to our listeners, subscribe to The Organized Woman Show through RSS or Itunes feeds by clicking on this link and then click on  the or logos on the right side of the web page to subscribe yourself through your email account. You can then pick and choose which shows interest you.

I’d love to have you join me to win online at The Organized Woman Show for ANY of the many 12 minute shows that meet your needs or may be the answer to an organizing question you need answered. If you have an organizing concern that a new show could answer for you, just email me at vicki.theorganizedwomanshow@gmail.com and recommend a show topic. Be sure to include your specific question or concern.

My goal and the goal of The Organized Woman Show is to allow you to live a better life by learning a new way to accomplish your life goals. I want to help you live your best life!