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| This Mail Tip is from Beth C-- "For mail, I use an 'Action' file. I use a plastic crate made for hanging files, which is about 6 inches deep. You can find them in any office supple section. It's called an action file because all the tabs have 'verbs' or action words. I have about 10 files with the following tabs; To Reconcile, To DH (mail for hubby), To Call, To Route (things that I want to give to other people), To Buy, To Deposit, To File-Receipts, To File-Handled (this is only for things that have already been handled and can get stored away at leisure). I also have a T-File (for tickler) at the back of the file holder crate, which has both a hard cardboard monthly index and a daily index. If I have to have something to use later, say a form for Drs, that needs to go with me on the day of the appointment, I file that in the daily index for the date of the appointment. Then I put a T up on my BIG calendar and "IF" I remember to look at the calendar I know that I have something in my T-File for that day that I need. For me, the 'Action File' system has been THE most important organizational tool for incoming mail/paper. Before, I had stacks of paper everywhere and spent enormous amounts of time looking for things and spent so much energy worrying about finding particular items. I also used to to put things up on the fridge that needed to be dealt with in the next few weeks. The consultant (who set up the action file) told me to stop doing that because all it did was stress me out. |
| All of this is in the organization book 'File Anything In Your Home...and Find it Again!' By Mary Ann Lessley and Katherine D. Anderson. Its a little hard to get but I think Amazon.com does sell it." |
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| This Mail Tip is from Kelly L-- "When you get your mail you basically deal with it within the first 5 minutes of bringing in it in the house. I pull out bills and put in bill box right away (I usually open them right away, not a requirement). Take out personal letters and magazines, then if I'm not going to go through the junk mail, coupons and other 'stuff', I dump it in the recycle bin. When I find time I can go back to the bin and get that stuff out if I need it, but if I never find the time all week then it is in its proper place. Maybe this will help someone, it sure did take many piles out of my cluttered house." |
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| This organization tip is from Barbara: Her mother bought her a "hanging organizer", which basically as she puts it "looks like a shoe rack that you hang in your closet, only all of the see through pockets are allot smaller." She uses it for for her jewelry, hair ties, bobby pins, safety pins, etc. "I can actually see all of my jewelry at once, the earrings get matched up...Maybe I can translate this into other places in the house." |
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| Here's an organizing tip from Tina T: "If any of you have a problem of super messy drawers stuffed with little things you can never find when you need them, see what I did...I went to Walmart and bought...everyone they had. And of small drawer organizers, I got several of each kind. Spent the weekend getting organized...Bigger organizers were used for paper products and cleaning supplies, separating them by use...The best part is that each drawer took me about 5 minutes, maybe 10 in some cases. |
| ...A friend gave me this idea of using plastic organizers a few years ago, but you know why I was stalled? Because I couldn't figure out exactly which ones to get, and in my mind it was a major project, thinking I had to measure each drawer..." The organizers that she didn't use she just returned for a refund. |
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| These organization tips are from Maurine H: 1. She uses a solid plastic coat hanger with round cutouts in the plastic, for her hose and scarves. This lets her see them all at once. |
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| 2. "Get stuff organized in cabinet just like you want it. Take a photograph and put it in the cabinet to look at when you put stuff back in so you can consistently remember where you decided to put it." You can also do the same for drawers, and this would be a great idea for children to know where their toys belong. |
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| 3. "Write everything down you want to say or ask about before you go to the doctor or other appointment where you don't want your leaky memory to keep you from getting the desired result you wanted." |
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| Here are some Brain Tricks from Maurine H: "My 12 year daughter and I both have been using a regular kitchen timer for a year now. It is a great technique to keep us on task for jobs we hate, like cleaning house. Anticipated time doing things we find boring looks endless when stretching out before us because of the way our brains work." |
| She started out using a timer set for 15 minutes figuring she could endure anything for 15 minutes. It makes things feel manageable with the concrete measure of time. She also races against the clock to see how much she can get done in that 15 minute time period. |
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| "Another 'trick' on my brain I have learned to play when the kitchen or house seems in hopeless disarray is to count. Example: I can stand to 'unclutter' and put stuff away up to 25 things, so I will make myself pack away 25 things, or do 25 small jobs, and then I'm free." |
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