by Katherine DiGiovanni | Mar 25, 2020 | Paper Organization, Project of the Day
I’m confident that if you set your mind to it, this should not be a difficult task to complete in a short amount of time. Start by walking around your house and collecting all of the old newspapers, magazines, and catalogs .If you still need to read some of them, make a stack and start reading! If you were me, you would just dump them all into your recycling bin – I keep almost none of this stuff.
But you’re not me, so here are some ideas of how to sort these items:
Newspapers
Recycle them! If you have an article that you somehow cannot find online and you want to keep it, cut it out and discard the rest. Put your clipping in a file by topic or writer or however you want to categorize it.
Magazine Articles
Same as above. If somehow there is an article you want to keep, cut it out and file it like above.
Recipes
Magazines have so many great recipes. (Some of my favorites are from Martha Stewart Living and Epicurious.) If you can’t find the recipe online, clip out the recipe and put it in a file or a binder with your recipes. (We’ll talk about organizing recipes at a later date.)
Catalogs and Decor Magazines
A lot of our clients are very interested in home decor and get a lot of inspiration from catalogs and magazines. They put together such beautiful spreads. Again, clip out the “look” that you want to save and file it. When it comes to decor, you should probably file by room or type of decor. If you’re anything like a lot of us, these decor clippings can be voluminous so you’ll want to organize them so you can find what you need at a later date.
And that’s it! Be careful when hauling around the magazines; they can be really heavy. One should never become injured when organizing! Snap a pic of your stacks of recycling and share with us!
by Katherine DiGiovanni | Mar 24, 2020 | Digital Organization, Project of the Day
If you’re anything like me, this is a long overdue task. My email inbox(es) has gotten totally out of control. With these recent weeks of so many emails – I have received at least one email on Covid-10 from every company I have ever done business with – and it’s been hard to keep up.
For me, the more cluttered my inbox gets, the less I want to look at it, and the less likely I am to look at the emails that actually need my attention. It’s a vicious cycle that can be halted by less than an hour’s worth of culling, filing, and deleting.
Everyone uses different email platforms with different capabilities, so this guide is fairly high level. You can figure out what works best for your inbox, but here are the steps that I take. I adapted this explanation from this awesome guide from Fast Company to clean up your inbox in one hour or less:
Step 1: Clear Out the Junk
Set a timer for 10 minutes and just start mass deleting messages you know are junk, like messages from social media accounts, delivery confirmations, and anything that is no longer relevant.
In gmail, you can search your inbox for common senders or subject lines (for example: Amazon delivery) and deleting those messages in batches.
Step 2: Create Folders and Labels
Set your timer for 20 minutes and organize the messages left that don’t need action, but that you need or want to keep.
Start creating folders by topic or type of email that have several messages that relate to it. So, that could mean folders like: Receipts, Projects, Travel, etc. You can always add and adapt folders as you go and figure out what works best for you.
Use this 20 minutes to make the quick, easy decisions. Don’t spend a lot of time on any one message. If you’re unsure about an email, create a folder called “Misc” or “To File” and put it in there. Some time in the future when you have a few minutes, you can look at that folder again and think about where to file those messages.
I err on the side of keeping when it comes to client emails (i have an email folder for each client) and just park much of the correspondence in there. It’s probably not necessary, but it helps me sleep at night knowing that I haven’t deleted a possibly important email. I use gmail so I have basically unlimited storage for messages.
Step 3: Make a To-Do List for Emails That Need Action
Set a timer for 30 minutes. After steps one and two, the emails you’re left with now should only be ones that need action. If the action can be completed in less than two minutes, do it now. If you need more time to take care of the message, add it to your to-do list with a notification to remind you to actually do it. Then, file the email to keep your inbox clear (you’ll still be able to search for it later).
If you’re just not a list maker, you can instead use Gmail’s snooze feature to have the email show up in your inbox when you’re ready to handle it. Or, if you’re an Outlook user, the follow-up feature lets you do the same.
And that’s it! You’ve got an organized inbox and you’re ready to take on the rest of your lockdown/quarantine/social distancing time in a state of digital order. Keep it up – take a little time each day to file and delete so that you don’t end up here again.
by Katherine DiGiovanni | Mar 23, 2020 | Project of the Day
If you’re like most of us, your medicine cabinet is packed with things you don’t need or use and a fair number of expired products. Let’s take a few minutes – less that 15, I promise! – to clean and organize this important spot.
Step 1: Take Everything Out
Take every last tube, jar, and bottle out of your cabinet. Place everything on the vanity or other surfaces in your bathroom.
Step 2: Clean and Disinfect Your Cabinet
Use a spray cleaner and wipe down every surface in your medicine cabinet. If the shelves are removable, you may want to take them out to clean them. Once you’ve wiped it down, use a disinfecting product (Clorox or Lysol wipes, etc.) to wipe the surfaces and allow to dry. The drying time is necessary to allow the product to work.
Step 3: Sort and Purge
Go through all of the items that were in your cabinet. Discard expired products or items you don’t use or need. If you have expired medication, put that somewhere to be recycled at a later date. Wipe down all of the items you plan to keep.
Step 4: Organize Your Shelves
Take a few minutes to put everything back in the cabinet in a way that makes sense for you. Put often used items front and center and easy to access. Put less used items up high. You might want to consider some simple organizers to help you keep things in order going forward. Here are a few that we like:
iDesign Med+ Plastic Bathroom Medicine Cabinet Organizers
iDesign Med+ Plastic Bathroom Medicine Cabinet Organizer
STORi Clear Plastic Makeup & Vanity Drawer Organizers
mDesign Modern Square Bathroom Vanity Countertop Storage Organizer
Step 5: Step Back and Admire Your Work
You’re done! And this is a visually satisfying accomplishment that you’ll be admiring at least several times a day. Congratulations!
Post a picture of your medicine cabinet and tag us @neatnikdc on social media!
by Katherine DiGiovanni | Mar 20, 2020 | Project of the Day
We’re going to finish the week strong! Let’s organize one messy or disorganized drawer in our home. This could be your junk drawer or another space that collects clutter. It’s so satisfying and the visual impact will most definitely “spark joy.” This will probably not take you more than 15 minutes.
Pick any drawer in your home – try to make it a drawer you use regularly.
Step 1: Take Everything Out
And while everything is out, take a minute to wipe out the entire drawer.
Step 2: Divide Into Categories
Sort like with like. Once you’ve done this you can assess whether any items in the drawer can be discarded, donated, or stored elsewhere. As always, be ruthless. The less you store, the easier it is to get and stay organized.
Step 3: Measure and Divide
If you don’t have individual inserts or a drawer divider, you can measure the drawer and figure out how many and the size of dividers you need to contain your individual categories. Here are some dividers we like:
Utoplike 4 Pack Bamboo Kitchen Drawer Adjustable Organizers
Kootek Desk Drawer Organizer Trays with 3-Size Drawer Dividers – 12
Simhoo Bamboo Stackable Drawer Organizers
Step 4: Put Everything Back
And voila! You’re going to really enjoy this accomplishment. Snap and picture and share it with us!
And this weekend…just relax. No projects from Neatnik. Take some time to absorb our new environment and rest. We’ll start again next week!
by Katherine DiGiovanni | Mar 19, 2020 | Project of the Day
I know, You’re thinking “This is not a project!” But hear me out: This could be the most important thing you do today. It can set you up to feel accomplished, increase your productivity for the day, and reduce your stress. Most importantly, it can lead to other good habits!
The Internet is full of great articles on the topic, so I’ll just link to a few:
You get the idea. During these times of extreme uncertainty and anxiety for everyone, try this simple, effective way to get your day started on a positive note. Get going and send us a pic!
