Letting go can be difficult, so here are my top 3 strategies for editing your belongings.

#1 Pareto’s Principle.
While you might not be able to pronounce his name properly, this turn of the century Italian economist developed what we commonly refer to today as the 80:20 rule. Vilfredo Pareto determined that what we invest versus the return we get is unbalanced. Applied to our homes, it would appear that 80% of our things are used only 20% of the time. In simpler terms, this means that out of all of your t-shirts in your dresser drawers, over half of them (80%) are only worn less than half (20%) of the time. The flip side of that equation is that you’re wearing a very small percentage (20%) of your t-shirts the majority (80%) of the time. Sounds like it’s time to declutter some of those unworn shirts!
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#2 One-In-One-Out Rule.
To avoid unnecessary overstock, you’ve got to have a plan to subtract whenever you add. We’re great with toilet paper – we buy lots, but we use lots, so the toilet paper supply never gets out of hand. However, when we’re buying things that aren’t consumable, those items tend to pile up. Consider purses. Although you might love purses (and bags of all sorts), it’s unnecessary to have ALL the bags. So, when buying a new bag, you must let go of an old one. Using the one-in-one-out principle helps us to establish healthy buying habits, which in turn reduces the potential for clutter. If you’ve got an excessive amount, then multiply this rule to read One-In-Three-Out until you can get your stash down to an appropriate level.

#3 Expiration Date.
As you continue on your decluttering journey, you’ll stumble upon items you think you might need one day. While this mindset has proven useful in past decades, it has followed Pareto’s Principle more than we’d like to admit: of the 80-100% of the things we keep for a delayed and unknown need, only 0-20% might ever get used. The replacement light bulbs that come with every strand of holiday lights, or extra buttons that come with your new cardigan. The dull hack saw you salvaged from a garage sale or the door knobs that came out of your renovated property. Maybe it’s the fancy table linens for the parties you never throw or extra sets of glass punch cups. You’re keeping these things because you THINK you’ll use them, but so far you haven’t. In fact, instead of using the old things, you actually just pick up what you need for less than $25 when you need it. Be honest with yourself. It’s time to let these things go. But if you don’t believe me, then place these items in a box with an expiration date clearly marked on the side. Once that date arrives, you’ll have no regrets donating those items because you KNOW you never actually needed them.
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What are your favorite strategies for cutting the clutter? Share them below in the comments!

This post originally appeared on The Good Life.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you purchase one I'll receive a small profit with no additional cost to you whatsoever. Thanks for supporting our site. Click here to learn more.

Like most parents, you save your kids’ stuff: their artwork, tests, poetry, notes.

You save it because you enjoy it. Or because your child was so proud and you want to remember the look on his face and the sound of his voice. Those mementos are visual reminders of exciting times.

But those mementos are growing a tad cumbersome. The piles aren’t looking so neat and tidy. Maybe the memory box isn't working for you, and you’d prefer to SEE the art, the graded papers, and the handwritten notes.

(panic ensues)

You really want to get on the ball and scan those projects or maybe photograph them and print them into a photo book, but who has time for that? Not you. Nope. You spend over half your day just driving the kids to school and extracurricular activities. Then there’s the grocery shopping and meal prep and budgeting. Yeah, that's a definite no.

(defeat)

The point is, dealing with the piles is LOW on the priority list. In fact, it’s so low, that you’ve just come to terms with the fact that those piles will continue to grow and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Until now! Click on the video below to see what I mean!

ARTKIVE is every busy parent’s solution to the piles! They send you a LARGE, postage paid cardboard box to corral your pile as well as a form to list out all your kids’ precious artifacts. When you send it to ARTKIVE, the good folks professionally photograph each item and upload it to an online database. You can stop there if you want, and simply save those items to an external hard drive OR you can organize those images into a hardback photobook. The best part? They’ll dispose of the originals for you so that you don’t have any guilt!

You can save $15 when you use code DECLUTTER at checkout!

Each kit (or cardboard box) holds approximately 200 pieces and is priced at $39. You can include more than 1 child’s artwork within each kit. ARTKIVE will automatically offer to send you a USB of all your images ($25) as well as return them ($20). If you aren’t interested in either of these, simply click the green checkmark next to each option at checkout to decline.

Each hardback photo book contains up to 200 images of art or keepsakes. To determine the cost of your book (billed separately), use the slider at the bottom of this page.

Now, I’m not going to lie. The books are pricey. Could you come out cheaper by doing the work yourself and ordering through Shutterfly, yes. 100% yes. Here’s an ordering scenario just in case you’re interested:

• ARTKIVE Box Service: $39
• Choose 5 artifacts from each year of schooling (Kindergarten-12th grade) that are professionally photographed and cropped: $153
• Total: $192

So why in the world am I telling you about this concierge service? Because this is a worthwhile investment if you’re just too busy to get it done on your own. For $200, it’s taken care of. You don’t have to manage those piles any more! Plus, once you place your first order, ARTKIVE will send you a referral code that you can share with your friends. They’ll save $20 off their order and you’ll earn $20 in ARTKIVE credits!

But if you did want to save some money, you can simply have ARTKIVE digitize the files. At checkout, use code DIGITAL (instead of DECLUTTER), and 40% will immediately be taken off your total.

Or, simply download the ARTKIVE app and upload all of your own photos, that can be organized into books at a later date.
 
Have more questions about ARTKIVE? Check out their FAQ.

Got a filing cabinet on the brink of explosion? Maybe the binders you’ve been using to store your documents just won’t stay closed? You aren’t alone.

When we begin our paper organizing journey, we aren’t big fans to tossing things. Instead, everyone seems more interested in sorting and saving. There isn’t anything wrong with that until the sorting and saving becomes a bit overwhelming to maintain. Eventually the folders outgrow the cabinets, and piles of papers waiting to be filed cover countertops.

The piles create this annoying buzzing sound in our heads. We know the piles of inaction are staring us in the face, taking up precious active space we desperately need, but we’re paralyzed.

It’s okay if you aren’t ready to pitch those old things. It’s okay. But, they can’t stay here. They’re taking up valuable space. We’ve got to put them elsewhere. Somewhere that takes up little to no space at all.

Your computer.

Now before you freak out, let’s go over a few things.
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Be Brave. You are totally capable of tackling this stuff because you’re bigger, stronger, and faster than any paper pile. You’re the guaranteed winner in this fight. So take heart! It’s just paper.

Make Decisions on the Old Stuff. Starting with the old is typically easier, and starting easy is the best way to maintain motivation. Walk past those piles that need to be filed and go straight for the system you originally put in place. Get rid of all the stuff you know you won’t ever need to access again. Keep the stuff that you will need to access in an unfortunate event (i.e., the trade confirmations from that one stock company that later has a class-action lawsuit for overcharging you, insurance policies, warranties), stuff that is difficult to duplicate (i.e., marriage license, passport), or the stuff that you just WANT to be able to reference should the mood strike (i.e., the first investment you ever had, but has since been rolled over into something else).

Create Folders. Using your old system as a guide, you can create a virtual filing cabinet with the same folder and subfolder names. Yes, you could wait until AFTER you finish processing all the NEW papers to do this, but I find that starting small and attaining small wins is what keeps our clients motivated.)

Decide on a Naming Convention. Once you start scanning, you’ll realize that you won’t be able to “see” your documents the same way you always have. Instead of being able to just glance at a date of a statement on the top right, you’ll have to actually open a file. So save yourself some time, and use a filing naming system to help you know what exactly is each file. I like to use dates for statements, so that I can sort them quickly: 2018.05.31 Statement, or if I’m doing a batch scan of all my old statements then I record the range most recent to oldest: 2018.05.31 to 2013.06.30 Statements.

Review the Contents. Go through the old filing cabinet folder by folder. Do you need to keep all these things? They’re SO old….you don’t even live at that address any more…and that investment was rolled over to another investment at least 4 years ago. (If you aren’t sure what’s safe to pitch, check out our Document Retention Guidelines.) If you need help processing your papers, join us for a Sunday Basket workshop! We can help you distinguish between active and archival papers, as well as make decisions on what to keep and where to keep it!

Start Scanning. Invest in a scanner that is going to help you knock this job out as painlessly and quickly as possible. Your bravery will be tested. Paper organizing isn’t for the faint at heart, so make sure you’ve got the right tool on hand to help you in the fight. Try to scan an entire folder before you head to a coffee break. Remember, we’ve got to keep inching toward achievement. If you want to make it SUPER easy on yourself, get a scanner that can do the following:

• Auto Feed
• Prompts You To Choose Storage Location/File Name
• Doesn’t Make You Restart if There’s a Paper Jam
• Allows You to Scan to ANY Device (because sometimes you don’t need those documents on your hard drive --- sometimes they can go directly into Evernote or an email)
• Scans BOTH Sides at the Same Time
• Creates Searchable PDF’s
• Scans in Color (so you can use it for photos too)
• Scans Multiple Sizes of Documents Within Each Stack
• Is Easy to Operate

If you don’t have one like that, do yourself a huge favor and buy the Fijitsu Scansnap. I’ve got the ix500 and it’s a workhorse with a relatively small footprint. I can easily take it into a client’s home, or keep it on the corner of my desk. My favorite part is the speed. This bad boy does 50 pages front and back in just two minutes. I’m also a fan of the fact that when I scan in all my tax documentation, I don’t have to sort my documents by size. It can scan business cards, receipts, manuals, and standard sheets of paper all in one go. The Scan Snap also resizes my PDFs to the exact size of the scanned document, so there’s no weird white space.

Shred or Burn. As you finish scanning the documents, take one final look. If these documents are truly archival (not actionable and not something you would need the original of), then go ahead and put them in the shred or burn pile. I’m not a fan of buying shredders because non-commercial ones don’t work well for large amounts of shredding. You’re better off just taking your large piles of papers to a document destruction facility (i.e., Staples and most UPS stores can shred) and paying about $1/pound of paper. For reference, a banker’s box holds about 25 pounds of paper. If you’ve got a fire pit, you can also just burn the old documents you no longer need. This is the cheapest way to dispose. I would not recommend throwing your documents in the trash. You can, but I wouldn’t.

Process the NEW Piles. Now that you’ve victoriously conquered all those old papers, you’ve got your filing cabinet back! It’s ready for the new stuff. But, as you may have discovered while processing your OLD files, you won’t want to keep nearly as much as you did five years ago when you first set up the system. Use the tricks you’ve learned going through your OLD to help you go through the NEW. Keep only what you NEED/WANT to keep. Don’t keep things out of some random tinge of guilt. If you know you won’t look at a year’s worth of utility bills, then don’t keep them. However, if you will actually look at them, keep them, and take heart that you’ll eventually scan them so that half inch of filing cabinet space they take up won’t last forever.

Scan Some More. You may find as you sort your NEW that you don’t even want to let it live in the cabinet. That’s great! Go ahead and scan it into the same folders/subfolders you did with your old.

Maintain the System. Whether you’ve decided to go fully paperless, or just partially paperless (scanning only the really old stuff), remember that a system only works if you continue to maintain it. You’ll need to schedule quarterly dates with yourself to file or scan the papers. You’ll need to schedule times when you dispose of the rubbish. You’ll need to schedule annual checkups to make sure the system isn’t getting too full or confusing.

You can do this! I know you can! We’d love to partner with you as you begin your paperless process. Follow us on Facebook to ask questions or contact us to help you one-on-one.

Can you believe that fall is right around the corner?! Who is excited for crisp winds and scarves?!

Right now is the perfect time to do a quick sweep for these 10 things:

1. Tattered Towels
The sun, salt, and chemicals can be tough on our beach towels. Grab those that have seen better days and repurpose them as emergency spill catchers (*two is more than enough), donations for pet shelters, or simply toss them into the trash. The end of summer clearance is bound to have some soft, fluffy beach towels to replenish your stash at the perfect price.

2. Faulty Flip Flops
You know which ones I’m talking out. The ones that are loose, squished, and seriously uncomfortable. Old Navy will have a new pair for less than $3 next spring.

3. Opened Snacks
If you’ve got kids, and it’s summer time, you’ve definitely got a problem with opened packaging. The lazy days of summer encourage noshing….and on a variety of foods. Take a pass through your pantry and locate all opened chip and snack bags. If they’ve gone stale, toss them. If they’re still in good shape, reseal them or parse them into individual sandwich bags to speed up lunch prep this fall.

4. Mismatched Tupperware
Speaking of lunches, you’re going to start packing those again. Set aside ten minutes to match up all the lids and bins so that you can toss any orphans. Plastic containers are fairly inexpensive, so don’t fret if you find yourself tossing 16 lids wondering where their matches went. You’ll be glad you don’t have to deal with leaning tower of lids come November!

5. Travel Trinkets
What brochures, maps, or other tchotchkes did you pick up during your summer travels? Are you finished with these? If their purpose has past, it’s time to recycle those papers and donate those random magnets your kids just HAD TO HAVE.

6. Old Toiletries
You pulled them out of your travel bags and passed over them while on vacation. Now it’s time to toss those travel sized soaps you never use and expired sunscreens. Grab the crunchy tube of toothpaste and the weird scented shampoo too. Don’t forget the warped cotton balls and funky tissues you shoved down into the makeup bag.

7. Dried-Out Art Supplies
Tis the season for school supplies. Why not let go of the orange, yellow, and green markers that remain from that original 10 pack and replace it with a new, fresh set? You know you’re going to need those colors for homework during the school year so go ahead and toss the old and worn crayons and paints too.

8. Stinky Lunch Boxes
Hopefully you’ve checked the lunchboxes from last June. If not, you might just want to toss those fully zipped! Pick up a new lunch box to replace the broken, tattered, or just plain stinky one from last year. If you’re up for it, try tossing the stinky one in the washer to remove the smell and stains. It just might save you a few bucks!

9. Unloved Apparel
Remember this spring when you bought those adorable shorts? You had such great intentions, but in the end, you never wore them outside of your bedroom because you preferred another style. Donate those fancy pants to your local Goodwill and bless someone with a brand new pair for a fraction of the price. Rummage around the rest of your closet and drawers to see if there are any other gently worn pieces that you can take with you.

10. Forgotten Books + Magazines
How’s that stack of reading material you piled up to take to the pool? Did you chisel away at the tower during that 10 hour drive? Take a good look at what remains. Is it a book you’re still interested in reading? Has the paper passed its prime? Return or recycle items that you just won’t get to now that fall is approaching.

Tell us what you tossed in the comments below!

This post originally appeared on The Good Life.

Step 1  – Collect your Photos. Some will be in albums, some in stacks of papers, others tucked away in the pages of books or memorabilia boxes. Locate as much as you can and bring it to one area. I’d recommend using a guest bedroom floor or the rarely used dining room table to stash your collection.

Step 2 – Begin Sorting. For larger collections of photos, it’s typically easier to sort by date. However, if you have a small collection of a distant relative, you might want to sort by person or event. If you’re struggling to pick one way over the other, ask yourself why you wanted to embark on this project in the first place.

• Because someone has to it? Why you? Because you are really good at organizing? Ok, then sort by date.
• Because you want to make a keepsake box for a specific person? Sort by person, then date.
• Because you want to keep track of major events like birthday parties?Sort by event, then date.

Step 3 – Use Labels. Post-its are great for creating quick categories on a large surface. Simply place the labeled Post-It above each pile and start sorting. If you’re sorting by date, go ahead and put the Post-It’s in year order. There’s nothing more annoying than trying to find “1998” when it’s surrounded by “1972” and “2003.” You can also subdivide by month.

Step 4 – Have Envelopes On-Hand. There’s one common theme that runs through every photo organizing project and that is BURNOUT. So, every step of the way, you’ve got to have safeguards in place so that you can walk away and come back when you’re refreshed. Labels are your first line of defense. Letter-sized envelopes are your second. Having the ability to drop all your photos from a certain year or event into a designated envelope means that you’re able to clear off that dining room table or use the guest room within about 10 minutes. Simply transfer the Post-It from your flat surface to the outside of the envelope and stash your envelopes in a banker’s box or clear tote.

Step 5 – Edit Like a Madman. Be ruthless. You don’t need to keep EVERY picture that comes through your fingers. Instead, keep only the photos that your intended audience will want to see. For example, if you’re photo project is to create a family album over the last 25 years, ditch the photos of scenery and people that your kids most likely won’t know. Keep the best picture of your daughter learning to walk, but toss the other 25 similar shots.  Remember that a picture is worth 1000 words, and those 1000 are a concise and un-redundant way of speaking the 10,000 words of ten similar photos.

Step 6 – Record Important Information. A photo you snapped just 2 years ago conjures up a time, place, and name of the individuals photographed. However, as the years roll by, you may forget that precious information. We see this ALL the time with pictures of children who “looked the same at that age” and now the parents can’t tell who is who. Save yourself the embarrassment and write the subject’s name, location, and date on the back of the photo. Growing up, my dad was the photo king. We had triplicates of EVERY photo. And to make matters worse, he required us to write the ADDRESS of the location. “Dad’s house” wasn’t good enough. A few decades and home address changes highlight the purpose of this eccentricity. Now my grandkids will be able to know EXACTLY where I was when that photo was taken of me climbing the tree out front. –If you have the time (and patience), including an address is like placing a cherry on top of your milkshake!

​Step 7 – Containerize. The purpose of your project will drive your storage selection. If the purpose was to create a family album, decide if that will be through a traditional album or if you’ll be scanning those photos (in order) to create a digital product. If your intention was to sort photos into a keepsake box for your child, then simply drop them in the appropriate age/grade-level folder and call it a day. If you simply wanted to get all those photos organized, you can store them in photo boxes that can be labeled and stacked.

Good luck on your photo organizing and don’t forget to reach out if you have any questions!

​This post originally appeared on The Good Life.

Over-the-door, clear shoe organizers have about 24 pockets. Their intended purpose is to corral pairs of shoes so that you’re not looking all over the house or under the laundry for that one mischievous flip-flop. But these organizers can do so much more! Below are my top ten uses for these inexpensive, lightweight, slim-line storage solutions.​

Number 10: Direct Sales Stock + Marketing
Direct sales companies are famous for samples and branded marketing. They send no shortage of tiny things to pass on to potential customers. Your business cards, postcards, brochures, samples, and stock must be organized so that you’re always aware of your inventory levels and have the ability to quickly assemble a hostess gift at a moment’s notice.

Number 9: Action Figure + Barbie Heaven
Some toys are just a pain to keep track of…..but you need to in order to avoid the classic kid-meltdown. If your kiddos are like mine, the Barbies, action figures, and all their accessories easily get mixed in with Legos and Lincoln Logs during epic story tales. In order to set the scene for tomorrow’s imaginative play, return the action figures and their accessories to a central location. Clear shoe organizers allow kids to spot the items they need and easily access them. They also help with quick cleanup so that Malibu Barbie’s sunglasses don’t go missing!

Number 8: Cleaning Supplies
Store your supplies in easy to see sections on your shoe organizer. Keep dusting products next to the dusting rags or Swiffer refills. Keep your laundry stain remover near your dryer sheets. You’ll always know what you have and what you need to buy more of.
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Number 7: Make-Up + Toiletries
The back of your bathroom door is a great place to keep stock of all the make-up and toiletry items you use on a daily basis. Never lose track of your eyeliner, tweezers, or deodorant again! This space is ideal for toothpaste, cleansers, moisturizers, foundation, eye shadows, lipsticks, glosses, as well as hair brushes, gel, shears (for that quick trim), and curling irons (….but wait until those are cool before putting them back).

Number 6: Sewing + Crafts
Keeping track of your sewing notions is infinitely easier when they each have their own home. Threads, needles, thimbles, and buttons can find their permanent place in a shoe organizer. Stash your different types of glues and craft scissors in the next set of pockets. Make room for scrap fabrics, paint brushes, paint bottles, crayons, colored pencils, and scrap paper too.

Number 5: Seasonal Accessories
Got a coat closet? Keep your seasonal accessories just as easy to grab in a shoe organizer. Assign one row to each person in the home. Keep track of your sunglasses, hats, chapstick, gloves, scarves, sunscreen, and bug spray to avoid the last minute run-around. Pet items like leashes and waste bags are a great addition.

Number 4: Snacks + Lunch Items
Can we all agree that shaving a few minutes off lunch prep is genius?! Particularly if you wait until the morning-of to pack! Juice boxes, granola bars, chips you portioned out into Ziploc baggies, fruit cups, plasticware, and napkins can all be stored on the inside of your pantry door, next to your hanging lunch boxes.

Number 3: Tools + Utility Items
No room for pegboard? Try a shoe organizer to keep your batteries, lightbulbs, screw drivers, hammers, and measuring tools sorted for easy access. You’ll thank yourself every time you reach for a AA battery!

Number 2: Gardening Supplies
From seed packets to gloves, these shoe organizers can save your sanity when you need to put a few plants in the ground. Hang the organizer on a shed door OR mount it to an interior wall. Those 24 pockets will easy accommodate your hand shovels, trowels, rulers (to measure depth), twine (to tie up those tomatoes), bag buckets (to transport extra dirt), seed markers, trimming shears, nailbrush, and kneepads.

Number 1: Infant Needs
If you’ve ever had a newborn in the house, you know you’ve got a lot of things that you need quick access to in order to preserve your sanity. Pacifiers, bibs, hair bows, blankets, onesies, diapers, ointments, creams, thermometers, medications, ball syringes, and socks are just a few of them!
As a bonus, clear shoe organizers are the go-to storage solution for individuals with ADD/ADHD. These organizers keep everything front and center so that no items are out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Take your organization to the next level by labeling each pocket so that it’s easy to remember where to return things when you’re done with them!

How do you use shoe organizers in your home? Comment below!


This post originally appeared on The Good Life. 

Ciao paper piles! Today you’ll learn how to create and maintain order using a super simple system that looks great and is easy on your wallet.

Step 1: Invest in a small mail sorter. There are hundreds of styles to choose from, but I recommend a divided bin so that you can create some categories. If you’ve chosen a basket with no dividers based on your home décor, then invest in some clear poly envelopes or an expanding file folder.

Step 2: Place the organizer in an accessible location. The most common mistake folks make (and the reason why their system fails) is that they keep the mail sorter where it “looks good” rather than where it “works well.” Keeping your bin near the spot where you store your keys or purse is a great idea because you KNOW it’s a spot frequently passed when coming inside the home.

Step 3: Sort the mail on your way back from the mailbox. Immediately move all junk mail to the back of your pile. Don’t bother opening the credit card offer envelopes, coupon packs, or “You’re A Winner” mail. You already know what those contain, and 99.9% of the time, you won’t use them. (However, if you are a coupon queen or in the market for a new credit card, you can reserve those items in a special category in your mail sorter.)

Step 4: Place the mail in the appropriate categories. My favorite (and most used) categories are: to read, to pay/respond, to file/access later, and to get rid of. Magazines and other periodicals need to be read, or you need to stop subscribing. Make a point to have a home for those items right when they come in the door. You can always move these “to read” items to a different location in your home, but for now, make it easy on yourself —- you’re short on time and that mail needs to get sorted. Items that require a response from you whether it’s payment or confirmation, will need a separate home within your sorter so you remember that these are the top priority items. To file/access later items may include tax documents, insurance policies, or other factual material that you will actually access at least once a year. Finally the “get rid of” pile will need to find its way to the trash, recycle, or shred bin within your home.
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Step 5: Make time to empty your mail sorter. This is the #2 reason why mail sorters turn into paper piles. If you never go through the mail, the system will definitely fail. Ideally, it’s best to go through your mail categories daily, but if you’re pressed for time, then choose one day each week like Saturday. To properly empty your sorter, start with the most important category first: to pay/respond. Open the first envelope, complete the required action, file any paperwork you know you’ll need to reference in the future, and then discard the rest. Then pick up the next envelope in that stack and repeat the process.

This post originally appeared on The Good Life.

If you're ready for a long-term solution for those paper piles (and mail sorters), check out our Sunday Basket Workshop! We'll sit down with you and help you tackle the papers with a proven system to clear the clutter.

This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to learn more.

It’s that time of year. While some of us love shopping for them, others simply cringe. The sheer amount of items required for the beginning of the year drives some parents even to the point of insanity. Finding the exact set of Crayola markers seems impossible, and of course, you would need the 8 pack for one child and the 10 pack for the other. On July 31st, grab a banker's box (or large Amazon box) for each child to contain all those required back-to-school items. (If your kids are little, I'd keep these boxes up high or behind locked doors so the crayons and new lunch box don't disappear before mid August.) Toss your school supply list into the box so you'll know where to find it when you're ready to brave the crowds (or order online in the comfort of your PJs). If your kiddos require uniforms or signed paperwork, store it in the box too. The box will be emptied once the year begins, so this is simply your way of momentarily containing the chaos.
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The amount of paper coming through your front door is about to drastically multiply in the next thirty days, but we’re going to help you manage that hot mess. Create a landing zone near the door you most frequently use when entering and exiting your home. Chances are, you've already got one....it's that spot where you drop your purse, your kids kick off their shoes, and you're constantly having to pick up jackets. You know what I'm talking about, right? After adding some hooks for your purse and jackets, and maybe a shoe rack, consider adding a basket where ALL papers (except homework) can be emptied. If your kids are older than 10, create divisions with hanging file folders OR use multiple baskets to sort the papers. Unless your child's teacher has specified at the beginning of the year meeting that you need to initial/sign paperwork or planners coming home every night, you can get away with going through this basket once or twice a week. (It's true. I used to be a teacher before I had kids.....almost ALL of those papers can wait a few days.)
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When you go through the basket (on Tuesdays or Thursdays), you're going to sort it into three piles: things to read or review, things to sign and return, and graded art or school work. The things you'll need to read and review might be that month's lunch menu or the sport's schedule. Keep these items in a folder, binder, or command center area where you can readily access them if you need them. The things that need to be signed and returned, need to be signed and returned. Finally that art and school work. Notice I said graded. (The homework should be completed daily and then returned to the teacher so it can come back home a second time with a big fat A+.) Your child's teacher sends this stuff home because they don't have space to display it all. Make sure your kid(s) understand that the same principle rings true in your home: your walls can only hold so much. Help your child select one or two items a week to save as examples of the work that gives them the greatest sense of pride or accomplishment. In full disclosure, I don't do this part each week; I wait until the end of the month and still recommend that we only choose one or two items to keep. Store these items in memory boxes divided by grade. Helping your child to determine WHY they want to keep an item and understand LIMITATIONS of space is of critical importance to developing strong decision-making skills. You'll also thoroughly enjoy the conversations shared as you go through these projects. 

​Getting a solid start on the school year will enable your family to keep chugging along when the book reports and science fair projects begin. In fact, you’ll be able to spend more time with each other, talking about the things that bring you joy rather than arguing with your fourth grader about where the permission slip went. You’ll be able to breathe. You’ll be able to sleep. You’ll even be able to smile. Here’s to the next few weeks of prep, fellow parents! 

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One of my favorite (and most frequent) recommendations when organizing children’s areas is to create a memory box for each child. Most parents already have something similar in place. They’ve stashed mementos, drawings, and treasures in tote bags and extra large plastic tubs to keep them safe.

While this is a great start, it becomes burdensome as the children grow older. More items need to be stored so more totes are purchased. The amount of storage space required grows like a never ending vine.

Worse, when the kids are ready to move out of the house, you’re both stuck with a disorganized, tangled mess of childhood papers, projects, and random stuff that your children now consider junk.

What in the world?! The intention was great, but it lacked one thing: forethought. Let me explain.

When city planners gather to discuss where the new road should go, they consider many things: frequency of use, amount of cars that will travel on it, potential problems, and ease of maintenance. They think decades ahead so that their work will not be in vain.

Your memory boxes deserve the same attention.

I suggest using a large letter file box. This size box is big enough to hold a childhood full of memories, but small enough to carry, stack, and store. As you shop, you’ll also want to choose a container that is relatively safe from the elements. Although plastic gives off a funky scent after so many years, it is bug and water proof. Finally, your box needs to be easy to open. While I love a good cedar chest with a beautiful brass lock, I’ve found that the keys go missing, the chest gets piled high with other things, and they’re difficult to re-home as children grow. Instead, opt for a solution that is portable and easy to use.
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Just like lanes on a highway, creating divisions within your memory box will give you the direction you (and your child) need to organize their belongings as time goes on. Hanging file folders are a favorite of mine because they take up little space and can hold papers and trinkets. They also allow for maximum accessibility to each division. When I create memory boxes, I use the following divisions for hanging files:

• Newborn
• Toddler
• Preschool
• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade
• 6th Grade
• 7th Grade
• 8th Grade
• 9th Grade
• 10th Grade
• 11th Grade
• 12th Grade
• College

I prefer to divide by grades because most children organize their memories around the school calendar. They remember going to Niagara Falls after 4th grade or winning that soccer championship in 10th grade. The school calendar typically has more firm start/stop points than a child’s own birthday. However, if your child prefers to organize by given age, that’s fine too. I’ve also seen families set up boxes by category rather than grade level (i.e., school papers, sports, crafts, etc.). The only downside to organizing by categories is that it will be difficult to keep organized as the years go by and you’ll have a greater tendency to stop organizing and start piling the keepsakes.
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This is where the rubber meets the road; where you realize whether the system you created for your toddler actually works when he’s a teenager. If you use a file box with the hanging file divisions I shared above, I promise you, the system WILL work. The trick here is to sort and file the keepsakes along the way. You may notice that a file will get particularly hefty…and may begin to crowd out others. If this happens, pull the file out and review it with your child. Are the pieces they’ve chosen to keep really their treasures from that year? Give your kids the gift of wisdom by teaching them to compare and evaluate. Children who learn to determine the value of their own belongings are better prepared to make wise investment choices as adults. Learning to live within the boundaries, within their means, will enable them to comparison shop for clothes, food, colleges, cars, and homes.

Never underestimate the power of a box.

Whether you work from home, operate on the go, or sit a traditional office setting, staying productive is easier said than done. We get by on auto-pilot while our minds wander. Our level of output may rise when a new or exciting project crosses the desk, but for the most part, we’re stuck at status quo. We don’t want to be….but most days, we are.

Like any relationship, our workspaces need us to care for them to keep the magic alive. Here are 3 tips you can use to increase your productivity at work.