Professional Organizer Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland Scott Roewer’s organizing blog DeClutterYou

“Residential Resolutions”
This year, make that list of attainable goals apply to your home.

PLAYFUL PLACES: De-cluttering and organizing your spaces are at the heart of fun play zones.

‘Residential Resolutions’ was the title of an article featuring tips for getting organized in the new year.  Getting organized is a popular resolution, but many people don’t know where to start or how to stay organized.  The resolution to be clutter free and more productive is right up there with losing weight, spending more time with family and friends, to quit smoking, or to get control of your debt.  What I often hear is people don’t know how to get started with living an organized life. These organizing tips will help.

In this article, I offer a four week plan to get January started as the month to get organized!

Week One – It’s all about post holiday recovery.

Week Two – Attack your kitchen and beyond.

Week Three – Learning about cleaning ‘maid’ easy.  Yes, that’s cleaning made easy.

Week Four – Organizing your extremities, where I talk about an organized wardrobe, your organized car, and successful meal planning.

To read the details of this four week plan, check out the article on Rubbermaid’s website.

You know it happens.  The gifts you give often become clutter in the back of someone’s closet, or stuck in a drawer, or simply lost.  We also always have people in our lives who are the ‘hard to shop for’ type.  Sometimes they already have everything they need, yet you want to give them a gift.  In either case, in place of a physical gift, here are some meaningful and useful gift ideas – I promise they won’t end up in the back of the recipient’s closet.

Bedandbreakfast.com – Accepted at more than 4,000 locations, no blackout dates, this certificate can be the perfect get-away weekend idea, starting at $25.

JustGive.org – Make a donation in honor of the gift recipient, or give a friend a membership to a non-profit organization. At Just Give you can donate online to thousands of charities.

AMEX Gift Cards for Gas – Since we don’t have reindeer to pull our cars, everyone can use a little gas. Gift cards are accepted by most major fuel brands.

Gift A Tree – Plant a seed for a greener tomorrow with the Arbor Day Foundation.  With each $5.95 card purchase, a tree will be planted in a national forest that has been damaged by fire, insect or disease, and you’ll receive a Give-a-Tree card to present as the gift.  Buy more then 100 for only $3.95 each.

Fandango.com – Everyone loves the movies and having Fandango Bucks makes going to the movies easier. Personalize your gift with a message and choose one of the many occasion-based themes! This gift can be emailed or printed for delivery.

Food and Friends.org – This is one of our favorite local charities. Your donation allows Food & Friends to serve more than 1,100 men, women and children, each day, who are living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses.  Just $25 provides enough food for a week of freshly-prepared meals.

It’s not even December 1st, yet with Black Friday behind us, we’re already feeling pressed for time?  I over heard someone at the store saying, “each year I don’t think I’ll survive the holidays!”  The person with her agreed holidays were very stressful.  Wake up!  Holidays are not suppose to be stressful!  If you’re easily stressed during the holidays, keep reading.  I’m giving you six holiday survival tips.  I hope they make life easier for you.

1. Wrapping Paper: If you run short of holiday wrapping paper, or simply want something more creative, use your child’s art work. Grandparents especially love this packaging. If you have rolls of unused wall paper, use it to wrap gifts.
2. Save on Gas: Driving from store to store to buy gifts can be tedious, not to mention time consuming. Shop online for holiday gifts. Sites such as Amazon.com waive shipping charges!
3. Gift Notebook: Have one central location for all your holiday lists and ideas.   You’ll include your shopping list, meal planning, notes on travel, sales fliers, etc.  Also, designate a folder pocket or envelope for gift receipts to make returns a breeze.
4. New Tradition: Must a traditional holiday meal be rich in calories in order to make your family happy? Start a new tradition of health-consciousness dining this year. Consider polling your guests for their favorite dishes. Then look for low-calorie version recipes online!
5. Say Yes: When someone offers to bring something to a party, or to help you out in any way, say YES! They wouldn’t offer if they didn’t truly want to help.
6. Donate Decor: If decorating is part of your holiday celebration, edit and donate the items you’re no longer displaying in your home. This will make storage easier after the holidays.  This should be done before the holiday as many donation sites will not take holiday decor after the date has passed.

Writing holiday cards can seem like a burden, but with a little patience and some proper planning, this otherwise burdensome task can become a meaningful way to send some holiday cheer. Here are 7 time-saving tips to simplify this process.

1. Begin to address envelopes for the holiday card now. Try to do five to ten envelopes an evening.
2. Once the envelopes are finished, write five to ten cards per evening.  The envelopes take longer if you do them by hand, so that’s why I do those first.
3. Challenge a friend or relative to see who can get their cards in the mail first. Make sure to have a fun prize.  Involving a friend who you’re accountable to, will help you stay focused.
4. Avoid long lines at the post office by going during their non-peak hours.  Statistically the slowest time at the USPS is 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
5. For the budget conscious, buy discounted holiday cards at the end of the season for the next year.  Next year, you’ll save time because you won’t have to go hunting for the perfect card.  I love saving time and money!
6. Prior to mailing your cards, weigh one to ensure that you do not require additional postage.  Speaking of postage, buy a bunch of Forever Stamps if you mail letters each year.
7. If you don’t like sending cards, consider a ‘holiday letter’ that is mailed out around New Years.  You’ll save time by not feeling the need to write a personal message in each card.

With these easy ideas, you’ll be able to maximize your time and simplify your life during the busy holiday season.