Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Did you know?
-Monthly Mission – Laundry
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-The Portable Desk

Introduction

It’s August and many of us are sending our kids back to school soon. It feels like this summer went by very fast. I am filling out my new calendar with school dates. I’ve found that with kids in school, it just seems like that’s the beginning of a new year and a calendar that starts with August just seems to work easier. The calendar I’ve been using for the past few years is 2013 Amy Knapp's Big Grid Family wall calendar.

Well, I did it. I revamped my email system to see if I could get it more under control and feel less overwhelmed. I looked around for different opinions on how to do this, but ended up coming back to Lifehacker's trusted trio It’s so nice to go to my inbox and only see a few emails which I can go through very quickly and designate their fate. But just as the article mentions, the key to this is making sure to take the time to actually come back and go through the folder of emails that need a response or other sort of action. I made a folder for stuff I need to read, mostly newsletters of things I signed up for. This is the one that needs my time… my “leisure” time, but it’s good to see that more easily now. And things that are more urgent aren’t lost amongst the not-so-important emails.

“The U.S. has 3.1% of the world’s children, but buys 40% of the world’s toys.”

What this comes down to is that our U.S. kids, on average, have a LOT of toys! My kids have too many toys even though we purge regularly. Read more about how to organize kids stuff in September’s monthly mission.

Source: Excerpt from the new book “Life At Home In The Twenty-First Century” as presented in People Magazine July 2012, available on Amazon.com August 2nd.

Life at Home in the Twenty-first Century: 32 Families Open their Doors

Time to look at our laundry habits and see how we can improve and streamline them. To read more about August’s monthly mission, click here.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

How To Organize Books For Kids - A quick and simple way to organize kids books so they can actually access them and put them away when they're done.

Before and After Photos - If you enjoy seeing before and after photos of organizing projects, you can find them all right here.

Living Room Storage Make-over - See how we recently re-organized our living room (play room) with a new Ikea wall unit that's great for storing lots of stuff.

Adding A Closet Shelf - See how adding a quick and simple shelf to a closet can add functional space.

Spice Rack - See before and after photos of my spice storage including my new spice rack.

Garage Makeover - before and after photos of my personal garage makeover. See how we tackled the problems and ended up with a functional garage.

Streamline Your Morning Routine - Ideas to help you get out the door in the morning and be on time for work or school.

Bathroom Drawer Make Over - How to organize a bathroom drawer, an example with before and after photos.

Stop Clutter - Quick simple tips on how to stop the clutter from coming into your home in the first place.

I’ve always thought those little “in-the-kitchen” desk areas were so cute and functional, but I don’t have one. I do most of my weekly planning, grocery and menu lists, couponing and list making at the kitchen table. Not everyone has a spare room to use as an office either, but everyone should have a space to pay their bills, work on a project or write a note to mail to someone and do their weekly planning and lists. And even better if your supplies such as your checkbook, writing utensils, paper, envelopes and stamps are nearby.

A portable desk is the perfect solution. First, find a “container” to hold all your necessary items. It could be anything from a nice cardboard box, a portable file box, a nice basket with a handle, a brief case, an art portfolio, or a product intended specifically for this purpose. Next, make sure you fill it with the items you’re going to need often such as: pens, paper, envelopes, checkbook, stamps, weekly planner/calendar, calculator, scissors, tape, etc. You will know best what items you need to have handy. In my basket, I also keep current sale flyers and magazines I’m reading. It’s sort of my “things I’m working on” basket.

Keep your portable desk handy and feel free to take it with you wherever you need to. Pay some bills at the kitchen table, or work on a project in front of the TV. And if your portable desk is small enough, you can even take it with you to the doctor’s office to use while you’re waiting for that appointment!

Think outside the standard desk. Be flexible and make things work for the way you actually live and the space you have to work within.

Here are a couple examples of possible portable desk containers:

Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com