household organization

Cyber-flinging…

No, I don’t mean getting to hurl your computer across the room, no matter how much the idea appeals to you!

Let’s fling files, and junk mail and old, out of date folders. This could get messy, folks— make sure you are paying attention, because you don’t want to lose something important.

First, email. Junk mail, advertisements, message board memberships, forwarded jokes and the like.

Have more than one email address!! It doesn’t have to be with your internet service—Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail— there are plenty of places to open free accounts. Choose the one (or more) that works the way you like. Open a second or third account. You can make it easy on yourself and just call it “Firstname.LastName1” (Mary.Smith1, Mary.Smith2, etc) Why?

Because the next time you go to a store, or fill out some survey or buy online, you can use the address that you choose to be for marketing purposes. You want this to be different than the one you give to family and friends. You should check it often, for special sales and such, (and who doesn’t love a sale!!) but it won’t clutter your daily, personal email. If you are newly doing this, then every time you receive some sale message, IF YOU STILL WANT TO RECEIVE MAIL FROM THEM, go to their site and change your address.

Second, DO you still want to receive mail from them? You ordered a sweater for a gift from a company you don’t normally shop at, and now they bombard you daily? Unsubscribe!! Usually right at the bottom of the message, you have a link. (A low-impact way to do this is what I have been doing. Each day, at least ONE piece of marketing email is either unsubscribed or re-subscribed to a different box.)

If you are a member on a message board, can your Email program sort these messages into folders, so you can read at your leisure? If so, take the time to set them up properly. If not, consider changing programs!!!

Then, take a look at the message boards themselves. Are you not really involved in all of them? Remove your membership! Don’t be a slave to it. Choose those that fit best.

Now, onto the harder stuff.

(All the following assumes you have a good command of your computer, and I am unable to give precise direction as so many things are different….)

Your C drive—is it sluggish and slow? Do you have folder after folder of writing, memos, and other files just cluttered here and there? Do you NEED them any longer? (Itinerary for a trip taken two years back? At best, print it and store with your photos and other souvenirs. You haven’t printed the photos yet? Store the file in a folder labeled Archives-Various.)

Remember, use the folders to your advantage, just like a real filing cabinet. Make the categories relevant and useful to YOU, and FLING the stuff that is out of date!

CAVAETS:

  1. Do not go digging into places you shouldn’t be. Be careful that your flinging doesn’t go so overboard that you need to call in the computer repair person of your choice to put you back together!!!! (While MY computer repair person seems to think nothing of 11PM house calls, yours may not…)
  2. PHOTOS. Don’t just fling. And, by the way, this could take TIME!!!! Take a break. Work a bit at a time. It didn’t get this way in a week, you probably can’t undo it in a week.

PHOTOS: Make sure all your photos are in one folder on C.

Then, make additional folders and label by year (2010, 2009, etc).

Inside each year folder, make a month folder ( 2009-JAN, 2009-FEB, etc)

Gather all photos that are on C, sort by DATE TAKEN. Select all images taken in Feb of 2009 and move to C:Pictures/2009/2009-FEB. (At this moment we are sorting; you don’t need to look at images for whether they are worth keeping. That can come later. Once you have established a system, however, you shouldn’t put ‘bad’ photos in it.)

Do this for all the photos you have. Make a file for photos others have sent you/things you have collected online, etc.

If you find that in May of 2009 you went to cousin Jim’s wedding and took a lot of photos, you can make a folder called 2009-MAY_JimWedding and put those photos in there ( C:Pictures/2009/2009-MAY/2009-MAY_JimWedding) The rest of the photos taken in May will simply stay in C:Pictures/2009/2009-MAY. You can do this for any special occasion, vacation, etc, where you have a good number of photos of a particular subject (that cutie pie grandchild for example!)

Continue until all photos are in folders, by year and month.

Using your photo viewer, (of whatever type you use, I can’t give specific direction) look at everything, and do this,folder by slow folder:

Fling any photo that is obviously out of focus, dark, blurry, or otherwise an epic fail. If it is with the subjects eyes closed, and the photo following has their eyes open. If the group shot was taken 13 times, save the 2 or 3 that are ok. Do you have images that are really meant for the recycle bin? Then FLING them. Right into the recycle bin. If someone’s expression is good only for blackmail, either blackmail them already or fling it. Not so quickly, however, with photos of YOU. Don’t edit yourself out of the family by being overly critical of images of yourself. Your grandchildren will thank you.

The only reason to save a really bad image is—IT IS THE ONLY PHOTOGRAPH YOU HAVE OF THE EVENT OR THE PERSON. AND IT HAS GREAT HISTORIC SIGNIFANCE. See, that eliminates most of the reasons for saving the bad ones.

Now, Rename the images you have saved. Select all images, and sort by date taken. Find your select all/rename option and call all the images you just sorted through and found worthy: 2009-MAY_JimWedding The program will add a number to the end of that for you automatically.

Next, do photo editing if you do such a thing, burn CD, order prints, send to family, BACK UP images.

Is there any image you would like to print?  Print them. Order prints. Today. Sign up for Kodak Gallery, or Shutterfly, or Snapfish or load them back onto a card and take them to Target or to wherever, but get them PRINTED. After all, WHY did you take the picture in the first place?

Burn a CD. Back up in some fashion. Create a second set of these images. Grab a fine point sharpie, LABEL the CD in the center, 2010-JAN, photos. 1 of … . Put the CD into a jewel case, and create a spot to store it. Important images? Maybe  burn a CD that will stay in someone else’s home as well.

Also, create offsite storage online for additional backup protection. Use the online gallery at Kodak (about $20 a year IF you don’t order photos from them) or whichever place floats your boat… Smugmug is my choice. I am thrilled with all the options I have there. My account is at the pro level, but you can purchase lower level accounts (less bells and whistles, but still same storage facilities and ability to print.) Use this coupon code  and save $5.00 if you choose to go with them. PMfvFGKyQzxgg

Whatever you do, don’t trust the fact that you have never had a computer crash. In this age of digital cameras, and every moment being recorded, we have a true opportunity to end up with no images if we are cavalier about their care and storage. Old negatives may be shoved into the backs of dresser drawers, and get scratched and stick together, but they can still be printed. A file, lost in the computer, if not backed up, no longer exists if you haven’t at least printed it, or emailed it to someone or burned a CD/DVD or backed it up in cyber-space.

Now, a quick note about access, then I will leave you alone. Images you have shot belong to YOU. You possess the COPYRIGHT and control whether other people may print it or borrow it, or put it up on their blog. Just as you go to my photo account, you will find you can’t right click and save. Those images are MINE.

Be careful if you are storing/backing up your images someplace like Flickr/Picassa Web/Photobucket/Facebook—the more descriptors you put on the images, the more opportunities you provide for someone to steal your images. You don’t want someone’s innocent child to have photos taken and used in ways that are not appropriate. Choosing a place that has passwords, and that the general public can’t just peer around in is something to consider.

Oh, and by the way? You need to do this to ALL your computers. Good luck!

Carry On flinging…

  • Linen closet
  • Cat toys/supplies
  • Shoes

Does it feel like we should be DONE already???  I chose three categories this week….Some easy, some difficult?

Shoes, for ME, aren’t difficult. I may WANT a lot of pretty, impractical ones, but my feet don’t. I listen to my feet.

If you are going to judge me (for a job, promotion, friendship or what-have-you) based on the fact my shoes aren’t the to-die-for perfect pair for my outfit, rather than appreciate that I know my limitations and work within my abilities, so be it.

My horribly flat, bunion-ed feet need to be comfortable …free and barefoot if possible, but otherwise not forced into something that resembles the shape of my foot not one bit.

The linen closet in my home resembles an ironing board cubby, so I am somewhat forced into obedience here as well. (In my childhood home we actually HAD an ironing board cubby in the kitchen. Ours had shelving added and it was a nifty spice rack…)

A general rule might be:

One bath towel and wash cloth, per person, per day. (Do the math. That seems quite generous. Make it less if you know it works for you!!)  One set for every extra sleeping accommodation. (Couch, guest room, inflatable bed…) That isn’t to say you only use the things once and wash, but it seems more than a reasonable number to allow for laundry issues.

BIG HINT: They do not need to match the bathroom perfectly. They should be more than threadbare. If they are threadbare, move them to car-washing or pet-cleaning status.

If you remember to put them out, then seasonal linens are acceptable to keep. Think about storing them WITH the appropriate holiday decorations, however.

Sheets, pillowcases, etc. One set per bed ON the bed, two back ups. Again, you can allow for seasonal adjustments.

Really, do you need 6 or 7 sets for one bed? Save the nicest sets. (Highest thread count, not stained, still have all the matching pieces…) Maybe store the extra set for the guest room IN the guest room.

Blankets, comforters, quilts. Ok, quilter here. Do not ever fling a quilt. Not one that was made for you, or by someone personally. Find someone to give it to if you must, but it doesn’t go to Goodwill! The bed-in-a-bag $79.99 special, sure. But not one made by hand (By hand, I mean individually created and made by one person to give to anther person,  one at a time.) It can be made on a machine.

If your grandmother made it and you don’t want it anymore, and can’t find someone of your family or friends to take and appreciate  it, email me for my address. (Seriously.)

Blankets with holes–cut them up for pets, or turn into lap blankets or put in the trunk for emergencies.

Tablecloths. If you own them, do you use them? Is there a cabinet in the dining room where they fit and actually get pulled out to use? Otherwise, they seem like prime flinging material.

Pet supplies.

 

 IMG_5455 Rory.

 IMG_5599 4x6 GandolfIMG_3801 Miss Tatiana.

We have three (not short-haired) cats, seven cat brushes, four lint rollers and STILL have cat hair everywhere. Gonna have to fling the brushes that don’t work, and that they don’t like. Examine their toys and fling the ones that have had the stuffing pulled out of them. (Literally in our case. Hamish had a habit of disemboweling  little fuzzy mice. We would come home and find a flat green mouse and snowy white ‘innards’ of poly filling everywhere!) A crinkly bag (complete with fuzzy tail) houses all their toys, until they pull them out again.

I have a basket on the bookshelf in the den with the brushes and such, which I need to sort and fling. The bath and kitchen cabinets have their meds and vitamins and soaps, gloves and hose for bathing, but they were flung back when I did those rooms.

I think we may have come to just about the end of the easy stuff. Stay tuned, and start your spring cleaning in a spot you’ve already flung. It will be….well, not a joy….but far easier!

containing it all…

Well, the Olympics has been over for a week….did you find this week easier to fling or harder because of the topic (books and magazines?)….

I know I am slowing down…the beginning categories were easy….clothes, dishes, who CARES about that stuff!!! LOL.  It’s these last few weeks that I have not done well….I may need you to check on me and make sure I am walking the walk, ok? Can I hear some success stories?

I think I have, for the most part, resisted the urge to send you out to BUY things to hold all the stuff around you. I believe my thought process was something more along the lines of, ‘lets not buy more containers to store stuff we should be flinging, lets FLING!’ I tried to not fall into the ‘this will make everything easy, if you purchase XXXX"…’ trap.

There is always a breaking point, but the idea was not to get so sucked into the storage sales, the organizational sales that retail pushes on you at the beginning of the year. (Did anyone notice that one of the campaigns run for Sunday coupons was actually about tossing old medicines and clearing out medicine cabinets and re-stashing with all the first aid needs of your family?)

My breaking point is now. And since I have cleared all the shelves at the CVS’s near me, I can share this without fear of MY plans running amok!!

I love containers, boxes, bags….anything decorative that holds stuff. I break down and buy this cute little box or that adorable little basket.  The problems are two: They don’t all play well together. This box doesn’t fit on the shelf with that basket, or looks odd or doesn’t stack well.

The other, and far more difficult issue is that I prefer to have EVERYTHING out. Yeah, a bit of a conundrum. I love the boxes, and the way they make the area look pretty, crisp; and technically they are so helpful to organizing, but I need to have everything at my fingertips! I am a visual person–if I don’t see it, I don’t HAVE it.

Problem number two is a personal issue, that I will have to resolve (Tweak. I play at finding the best way constantly.)

But problem number one will simply require money, and a bit of decision making.

I had to lay out money to buy ALL of the particular storage totes that I decided worked best for me. (Yes, I found a sale.) But the fact is that these containers all stack neatly, are that milky clear color, and easily accommodate the items I want to store.

By the way, this storage is for the studio. I know, we haven’t gotten there officially. (and that many of you don’t have a studio…) …But I have LOTS of stuff going on in there.

Some of the containers I currently use in this room may be repurposed in other rooms, were decorative trumps function. Some others will be flung. This is going to be a LONG Fling in here, when we get there.

Thoughts on storage:

  • Big Lots, CVS, the Container Store, JoAnn Fabrics (the superstore sized ones), Target, Bed Bath and Beyond. There is no ONE place that is going to solve everything for everyone.
  • Just because I am modifying storage doesn’t mean what I have doesn’t count. I can gather the pieces that are similar and use them in some areas, because these pieces DO work. It’s the areas that are NOT working that I am playing with change.
  • Price DOES matter. (At least the full price.) Some of the ‘off’ brands may be great, but the larger items, the ones with drawers, the better (stronger, probably more expensive) brand is a better idea. Mostly because the drawers will not cave from weight, etc.
  • Plastic, wood, hat boxes, baskets: You need to decide on the type of storage and what will GO into the storage container. You are not limited to one type of storage, but resist the urge when shopping to buy a BUNCH of things that don’t work together. That’s what you (I) already have.

The next big task is to avoid simply moving things from box one to box two without flinging. It means that the look of the room is going to be worse while in progress. Accept this.

A labeling system and a shelving system to hold all your boxes needs to be assigned. I own a P-touch, or if you have nice handwriting, a Sharpie and some labels is fine. Something consistent would be better. (just the visual aspect of it….you will feel more organized at the end, don’t you think, if it looks crisp?)

After that?? It’s really up to you. I don’t know WHAT room you purchased containers for, I don’t know HOW you prefer storing things.  Just remember to FLING it first, and store only what is worth storing.

Make this a week to tweak what you have finished, look around the areas you have flung to see if it stayed flung or has it gathered stuff again—basically, ponder how things are going. Shop for some storage, if you find that is a place where you are lacking, and think about beginning your own version, at your own time, of Spring Cleaning. (I am SO not helping out on this one, sorry!!!)