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Organization in St. Charles County

January 1, 2008

Many dream about an uncluttered home and assign organization as their number one new year’s resolution. There are many ways for St. Charles County residents to get a grip on this nagging issue.

Books such as Organizing for Your Brain Type (call number 640 Nakone); Easy Home Organizer (call number 640 Payne); and Helping Kids Get Organized (call number J 371.3 Spizman) all can be found at the St. Charles City-County Library. Borrow these and peruse other books about organizing, too.

Professional organizers are striving to get St. Charles County in order. Their services cover everything from cleaning garages to organizing kids’ school papers. Sometimes an extra set of hands and moral support are all that’s needed to get a job underway. Check out www.yourlifeorganizedstl.com and www.savvysolutionsnet.inc for some inspiration.

An online source of help with organization is the Flylady website. The Fly Lady has become a popular motivator for many. Her regular e-mails keep participants on track and her website offers information in pep-talk style.

More tips to get started:

Break down projects into manageable chunks. For example, instead of organizing the entire basement, start with one corner.

Keep important papers (birth and marriage certificates, titles and deeds) in a safe box.

Deal with junk mail immediately. Once a pile begins, it soon gets out of control

Pay bills on the same day every week.

Use a calendar and check it daily

Make a complete to-do list. Each day, pick the most pressing three or four items from the list, and write them on a small paper. Attempt to complete only those tasks during the day.

Realize some jobs only take minutes. For example, it only takes about 2 ½ minutes to unload a dishwasher, about the same amount of time it takes to brew a pot of coffee. It only takes about one minute to make a bed and five minutes to fold a basket of laundry. Small job snippets during the day are not overwhelming

Ask for help from others. Cleaning the garage does not have to be a one-person job.

Don’t expect perfection. Organization is continual; perfection will never be realized

Mom was right. A place for everything and everything in its place.

Main points all sources stress are: take small steps, clean as you go and practice the routine continually. Using these resources and tips will make 2008 an orderly year.

Read previous articles in this series.

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