Where can old nail polishes go, instead of trash?

Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines, had a blurb in its June issue about how to properly toss old bottles of nail polish. They shouldn’t just be thrown in the trash, because they include chemicals that can seep into the water table and contaminate it. All nail polish, even “eco-friendly” kinds, should be dropped off at a household hazardous waste (HHW) facility, along with hairspray and dye, house paints and pesticides. It is easy to locate your nearest HHW at http://www.Earth911.com by entering the item type and your zip code in the form at the bottom of the page. I recommend calling the facility first to make sure it is still open at the advertised times, and still accepts the item you want to discard.

 

The article doesn’t seem to be available on-line. Here’s an image of it instead, written by Andra Chantim:

Deciding on academic papers and textbooks

What about the school work?

 

A number of people (both clients and friends) have asked me whether they needed to keep papers and textbooks from college or grad school. The answer depends on each client’s goals and space availability.

 

When I’ve asked clients how often they refer to old schoolwork, very few tell me they ever look up old material. Even fewer tell me they check their old work just to reminisce. So recycling school papers seems like an obvious paper clutter fix. Still, I understand wanting to keep a record of past achievement.

 

I’ve been out of college for over 10 years now, but on one trip to my parents’ house, I discovered papers I wrote and handouts from high school and college. Even though I knew I would never need them, they were materials from especially memorable classes that I really resisted getting rid of.

 

It’s nice to have the option to decide when I’d be ready to let go, but sometimes it’s a relief to have the decision taken out of my hands. A leaky window in my childhood bedroom soaked most of my high school memorabilia books, and they had to be thrown away. I was upset at first, but then relieved. I didn’t need them and they were cluttering the space, but it would have been very tough to throw them out on my own.

 

So I understand when clients struggle with what to do with past work. Readers, do you still keep your old essays and textbooks? How you decided enough is enough? New grads, are you glad to say goodbye to the books? Write in and tell your stories!

A wedding gift of organizing

Helping people as they transition to a new stage of life is one of my favorite parts of my job. Last summer I worked with two couples who scheduled appointments not long after their weddings to reclaim clutter-free homes.

For one couple, the wedding gifts overwhelmed their small kitchen. They planned to move to a larger home in a few years, so they asked me to figure out short-term storage solutions.

We pulled everything out of their old kitchen for review. When an old appliance could be upgraded by a new wedding present, we unpacked the gift and gave away the old item. We got rid of duplicates, anything that was worn out, and unused gadgets. We maximized the utility of their limited storage by arranging like with like: Tupperware in one place, bake ware in another and pots in a third.

Their formerly-cluttered kitchen was left with open space. We talked about how they cooked and entertained, and how that might change in the near future. With that in mind, they picked a few more pieces from the gifts to incorporate into their kitchen for now. Everything else we stored elsewhere in the apartment, in readiness for their next home.

The other couple was lucky to have multiple storage spaces, but all seemed stuffed full. The clients felt that this new stage of their lives was a good time to revamp their storage, especially since they also had received many generous gifts they wanted to be able to access and use.

We discussed their lifestyle and daily routines. One of the clients was the “fixer” in their relationship. She complained that she can never find her toolbox for needed home repairs. Her spouse was concerned that there was nowhere to safely store the holiday-themed china serving dishes they received, which they had wanted to use just once or twice a year.

I helped them group items by how often they planned to use them: easy access, store longer-term, or store accessibly for occasional use. Once we had a plan, rearranging the closets was much less overwhelming to them. Both were delighted at how easily identified the right places for the toolbox, the china and other items once we’d clarifies their storage needs.

At the end, both couples felt they had gained space in their homes. I was thrilled to receive a grateful feedback from one of the clients later, telling me how well their new arrangements worked.

ICE (In Case of Emergency)

If you haven’t done it already, here’s a 5-minute tip that may save your life: add ICE to your cellphone.

ICE means In Case of Emergency. It’s a way to label your emergency contacts so rescue workers, police or medical professionals know whom to call if you can’t speak for yourself. Your ICE should be a family member or dear friend who knows your medical history, allergies if any, and doctor’s name if possible, and it’s fine to have more than one ICE contacts. All you have to do is change the contact name in your phone contacts list from “Mom” or “Tom” to ICE-Mom, ICE-Tom etc. If an emergency worker searches the list for ICE contacts, the listings will pop up immediately.

If your cellphone is password-protected, consider adding ICE info to the back of the phone instead. Set it up as ICE-Mom 123-123-1234. Some phones allow for text on the locking screen, which could also be a good place for your ICE information. There are also apps such as ICE Standard to download. If you know of another, similar app that you love, I’d love to hear from you. Alternatively, carry a card with ICE contacts in a prominent place in your wallet.

Adding ICE to your cellphone may save your life. I strongly encourage you to share this info with your family and friends.

Photos and mountains of them!

It is unbelievable how much technology has changed the way we photograph. Smartphones and digital cameras make it easy for people to take huge numbers of photos, but instead of getting prints, we can store and share our photos by posting to Facebook or other social media sites.  It is very easy to get overwhelmed by a giant digital photo collection if you don’t have an organization set up from the beginning. I definitely don’t miss the envelopes of unsorted photo prints photos that used to pile up, waiting to be organized.

 

I LOVE taking digital photos because I see the photo right away in my hand and if it’s not appealing, I just hit the delete button right then and there. Deleting unflattering pictures helps me keep my collection small and navigable. Downloading onto my computer is a blog for another time.

 

Do you wonder what the high volume of digital photos might look like if we were still printing out everything? There is an interesting installation called “24 HRS in Photos” by Erik Kessels, who printed photos uploaded by the public to Flickr within a 24 hour timeframe. He brought enough papers and printer ink for 6 billion photos and filled a gallery room in San Francisco with them. If you check it out before May 2014, please let me know what you think of it.

 

Do you have any tips or tricks for organizing your digital photos? Write in and share!

From O

I try to pick up The Oprah Magazine each spring, when it does its annual de-cluttering issue. I like to read what excites the readers about organizing by O.

 

It may not feel like spring yet, but the March 2014 O organizing issue has hit newsstands, and it’s full of great features. My favorite is by a respected organizer, Peter Walsh, who created a “One month to a Saner you!” calendar with a quick organizing project for every other day.

 

Each project is designed to take just 5-10 minutes at most, but those small, regular steps can make a huge difference. This was one of my favorites:

 

“5-5-5: In the next 5 minutes, find 5 items in the room where you are sitting to give away, 5 to throw away, and 5 to put away. Ready… go!”

 

Here’s another great one:

 

“Primp My Ride: Go to your car with two bags. Use one to collect trash and the other for anything else that doesn’t belong there, from mail to kids’ toys. Return these items to their places.”

 

If you want to see the whole month to meet the challenge, or get ideas to create your own “saner you” calendar, message me or pick up the March 2014 O issue (make sure to open the foldout page). Every small step makes a difference.

 

On a different note: Many places across the USA are now accepting donated formal dresses for high school prom. For donation guidelines, check my previous blog. The links are current. The deadline to donate a dress in most places is April 1, 2014.

“Winter Exercise: Bend. Toss. Repeat.”

Recently the Chicago Tribune posted an editorial (January 20, 2014), “Winter Exercise: Bend. Toss. Repeat.” It talks about the challenges of finding storage space for everyone’s new gifts or deals from seasonal sales, joking that maybe a dumpster rental would be the best holiday gift of all. Since winter tends to be a time to hunker down at home, especially when the temperature hits the teens or below, the editorial recommends taking the opportunity to clear the house of no-longer-needed items. According to the Tribune, discarding old things might be an easier New Year’s resolution to keep than exercising more or giving up desserts for all of 2014!

There is a nice quote at the end of the piece that acknowledges that yes, it’s hard for people to let go of things: “But creating all that empty space is energizing. At the very worst, once your winter exercise ends, you’ve got more spaces to put that new stuff you can’t live without.” I’d love to hear my readers’ thoughts on this editorial.

Thanks to my mom for bringing this piece to my attention. I smiled reading it.

Too many tutus

I was shopping for baby presents and came across a cute book aimed at 1^st graders, Fancy Nancy: Too Many Tutus, by Jane O’Connor. It caught my attention because it focused on tackling the overabundance of a particular favorite item.

Nancy is a young dancer who can’t fit new dance outfits into her stuffed closet. Over the course of the book, she learns to let go of some beloved, but outgrown, worn out and duplicate tutus in order to make room for the new ones. The book also includes a gentle lesson about sharing with friends and a younger sibling.

The book is short and sweet, but the lesson applies to any of the things we collect as part of our hobbies and enthusiasms. Knowing when to give some of them up is not only a good lesson for the kids to learn, but a friendly reminder for adults too.

If you get a chance to read the book, let me know what you think of it. And if you’ve learned any other good organizing lessons from a kid’s book as an adult, please share your piece.

Running: Don’t forget your team!

A helping hand at one of the many muddy obstacles

Back in June I posted a “Running for a goal” blog. I did run a Spartan obstacle race in August. The encouragement from my family and friends, plus using a training program to prepare, helped me tremendously. People laughed when I said that we started with four people on my team and finished with eight! So how is that possible? One person in my group took a bad fall and there was no way she could walk down the final hill to the finish line, although we were so close. A few other runners helped us carry her to the finished line together. Can you imagine seven mud-covered, exhausted people carrying a stranger (to some of them) downhill together? I still get goose bumps.

 

I’m still running, and whenever I can I grab the opportunity to run with a friend. Running with someone else helps me push myself harder, and makes the running feel easier at the same time.

 

Organizing projects often seem like personal tasks for just one person to handle, but even when you’re on top of the project, working with a friend or other “teammate” can help a lot. Sometimes, like my injured friend in the Spartan race, you can’t get there without your team! Bottom line, there is a finish line with organizing just as there is in a race. Having a team work with you may help you get there faster.

 

S3 wishes everyone a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!

 

 

Buddha quote

I was at a restaurant when I noticed a framed quote from Buddha: “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” It so hit the mark for my field, and was a nice reminder for when comes to my own stuff as well. I have some things from my grandparents and parents, but I don’t need to keep all of them to be able to enjoy my memories. I can make room for my present as well.

If you have a different interpretation of this quote, I would love to hear from you.

I wish everyone a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.