Organizing for College - or Just Having Fun

If you're taking your child to college or just trying to squeeze in some fun - Expedia is offering a fabulous deal - 50% off hotels through the end of September. Even they say this is one of the best deals they've ever had. Just had to pass this along to you. Click this link to save some bucks (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2537020-10489996?GOTO=DAILY&page=/promos/deals/50_percent_off/default.asp&afflid=aff.wd.promo.50%_off.20080804)!

Ellie's Bags - A New Idea in Diaper Bags - For You or as a Gift

Ellie's Bags is getting ready to launch their new line of diaper bags on August 13. In the meantime, they are sponsoring a giveaway - a $25 gift certificate. Use it for yourself or give it to a friend. Click the title above to sign up!

Organizing for College - Time Management Tip for Campus Calm Blog

Campus Calm is a wonderful resource for college students. Maria Pascucci founded Campus Calm to help students reduce the stress in their lives while still succeeding in college. She has loads of resources and numerous experts who provide insight in many areas.

I am privileged to be the Time Management Expert for Campus Calm. Click the title above to check out my time management tip for college students for this month. While there, wander around the site. Give your friends who are college students a gift by pointing them in the direction of Campus Calm . Or buy them a membership to Campus Calm University!

Related Posts: Organizing for College - Guest Blogger Sarah Scrafford, Great info for college students, their parents, and college professors, Packing for College, Review of Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student, College Survival Kits, Organizing For College - Dorm Room, Organizing for School - Papers, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist

Announcing Our New Updated Website - 25% Discount

I am so pleased to announce the launch of our new updated website! Kudos to Comfort at Concept Design Studios for spending many hours redesigning the site to make it fun, colorful, easy to navigate and simple to use.

The site is organized to make it quick and effortless for you to find what you need to organize your home, your office, or your time. This is a great time of year to get organized, and we have just what you need to help you get started!

To celebrate our launch, we'd like to offer you a 25% discount on any order through August 20. Use the code 123 to receive your discount.

I'd love it if you'd pass the word to your friends!

Hoarders vs. Pack Rats and Living with Them

My mom recently sent me an article by Heidi Baker and Eden Jarrin, co-founders of www.BeJane.com, an online community and resource for women's home improvement. The article spells out the difference between hoarders and pack rats, and what to do if you live with either one.

Read the entire article published by Oklahoma City's The Oklahoman by clicking the title above. And if you're the handy type, discover home improvement projects to do yourself by clicking on their website above.

Thanks Mom!

Related Posts: Clutter in Your House or Office Means Clutter in Your Mind, Schedule Daily Clean Up Times, Reduce Your Stress by Organizing, Chopping Big Chores down into Bite-Sized Chunks, Decluttering Tips

New blog post: Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub. www.1-2-3GetOrganized.blogspot.com

Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub

If you don't have one already, create a hub - a location where you keep papers to be signed for school, library books, invitations, and other important information. The point is to have one location into which you deposit vital information so you know where to look when you need it.

It can be a drawer, a decorative box, a shelf - whatever works for you. And it needs to be in a central location. When my kids were home, I used a basket in my kitchen.

If you want to include backpacks, briefcases, and keys in your hub, you could put up pegs or hooks near the door you normally enter. Or use a coat rack or a coat closet to store these vital necessities.

How do you handle the incoming information from school?

Related Posts: Getting Organized for School (and life!) - Getting Enough Sleep, Get Organized for School (or life!) - A Family Calendar, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist, Organizing for School - Papers, Get Organized for School - Clothing Inventory, Hope for Disorganized Students!

Organizing for College - Guest Blogger Sarah Scrafford

I'm so pleased to invite Sarah Scrafford to share a blog with us. If you are a college student or know one, Sarah offers some great advice!

Sort out your Organization Problems

My dad is a profound thinker who excels in converting his ideas into intelligent and profitable ventures. But there’s one thing I don’t get – his perpetually disorganized and cluttered desk. Woe betide his secretary or anyone else who attempts to restore some form of order to the chaotic mess of papers and other office paraphernalia; he argues that if the desk is cleaned, he’s bound to forget where he left stuff, little bothering to even listen to my take on the value of a clean and orderly desk with a place for everything and everything in its place.

I guess tidiness and order are characteristics that we acquire as we grow up, because I certainly didn’t inherit them from my dad. Besides saving an enormous amount of time when you’re searching for something, being organized is one way of letting others know that you are disciplined, in how you take care of your belongings and in how you deal with any aspect of life.

College is a time for higher learning, not just from the pages of a book, but in the art of self-discipline too. It’s time students took the effort to change the stereotype that college dorms are messy places that stink to high glory. By turning around one minor aspect like the cleanliness and order of your room, you’ll find that the same attitude spills over into the more important things in your life. Here’s how students can maintain order in their rooms, the easy way:

· When you move in to your residence (either on or off campus), don’t just dump your belongings anywhere; make an effort to identify the right place for each of your things, and put them away neatly.
· If you have stuff that’s left over after you unpack, take what you don’t absolutely need back home to your parents.
· Your books and study materials need to be kept separately from your other belongings.
· Make sure your papers are filed neatly and pinned so they don’t end up flying out the window or being swept away in the trash can.
· If you eat in your room, throw out the leftovers and empty containers immediately instead of waiting for a week to clear up the mess. The sooner you tidy up, the less stains and spills you’ll have to deal with.
· Put your dirty laundry in a designated basket so that the smell of sweat isn’t overpowering when you enter the room.
· Set aside time every week to do your laundry and take care of other personal errands.
· Tack up a list to a cupboard where you can add items that you’ve run out of and need to replenish. This not only simplifies your shopping process, but also makes sure that you’re not left high and dry when you need stationery or other personal provisions.
· As much as possible, do not borrow stuff from others or lend them yours. It’s hard to keep track of what belongs to whom when there’s too much exchanging going on.
· Make notes of things you’re supposed to do for the day. Better still, set up an online calendar of all the events you’re supposed to attend all semester. Check your to-do list each morning before you leave your room.
· If you’re not a morning person and have trouble waking up all fresh and cheery, wake up 10 or 20 minutes before you normally do so you have time to compose yourself, take a shower and be as fresh as a daisy for class.

While there are no hard and fast rules to be followed in your attempt at order, a regular routine helps when you’re a student. An orderly existence is the hallmark of an orderly mind, which in turn makes sure you are successful in anything you do.

Sarah Scrafford is an industry critic, as well as a regular contributor on the subject of top online university. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com

Related Posts: Great info for college students, their parents, and college professors, Packing for College, Review of Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student, College Survival Kits, Organizing For College - Dorm Room, Organizing for School - Papers, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist

Announcing the Winners of My Bloggy Giveaways - and a Free Gift for Everyone Else

I'm pleased to announce the winners of my four Bloggy Giveaways:

5 Organizing books - Mechelle
Hassle Free Dinners - Tasha
3 Organizing Ebooks - Sarah
Office Organizing Ebooks - Audrey

If you didn't win, I'd still like to give you a free gift - a downloadable article on Cheating Time - an exerpt from my Time Management books. Just leave a comment on this blog and be sure to include your email address.

If you are interested in some of my books, watch for my blogs next week - I'll be announcing my new website with a special sale. Make sure you sign up for my blog so you don't miss out. :-)

Thanks so much for entering my giveaways - it was fun, wasn't it? I loved reading your comments - thanks for your kind words! By the way, since this is my first bloggy giveaway, I haven't gotten up to speed on the random selection software, so my husband chose the winners randomly.

Getting Organized for School (and life!) - Getting Enough Sleep

One of the nicest gifts you can give to your child is a good night's sleep. My goal as a mom has been to provide an atmosphere of success - creating an atmosphere where my child can succeed.

In order to do this, I must make sure that I have some routines and personal discipline in place so that my home runs smoothly and my child's needs are met. If I am living in chaos, most likely my child will not have a peaceful atmosphere in which to grow, not to mention having food to eat when hungry, clean clothes, and enough sleep to function effectively.

One of my hot buttons is getting enough sleep - for myself and for my children. Neither of us can do well if we are sleep deprived - we're grouchy, slow to respond, and easily stressed.

I came across an article this morning that details what sleep does for us - makes us better athletes and better drivers, helps us grow, reduces stress, helps us learn and remember, and gives us a positive attitude. Several of these have direct impact on school for our children. Click the title above to read the entire article - important information every parent should know.

Summertime usually means a more relaxed schedule and later bedtimes. Begin now to gradually move bedtime to the time that insures your child gets enough sleep each night. If you sense your child is sleep deprived, make it less gradual - you want your child to start school fresh and envigorated! A good indication that your child (or you) is sleep deprived is that he falls asleep when sitting.

In the meantime, observe your child - how much sleep does she need? A good way to tell is to allow your child to wake up naturally for several days. Observe yourself while you're at it, and figure out what time you need to go to bed in order to get enough sleep. It's worth it, but hard to do.

Even if you don't have school-age children, giving your child enough sleep every night creates an atmosphere where he can succeed and function at his peak. And make sure you get enough sleep yourself - you'll be such a better parent.

If you need help making this happen, check out one of our time management books on our website.

One Last Bloggy Giveaway - Office Ebooks

My final Bloggy Giveaway is a set of ebooks for the office: Three Steps to Organizing Your Office and Three Steps to Time Management at the Office. We'll close all entries at 5 pm (eastern) on Friday, August 1st. I'll announce the winners on Saturday, August 2 if not before. See Related Posts below to enter the other three giveaways.

Want to keep my organizing tips for your home, office, and time coming? The sign up for my blog is just under my picture on the left sidebar.

I'll be offering some sales next week, so stop by!! Thanks for entering my giveaways - it's been fun!

Related posts: Bloggy Giveaway Carnival, Another Bloggy Giveaway from 1-2-3...Get Organized, Bloggy Giveaway #3 - Three Organizing Ebooks

Get Organized for School (or life!) - A Family Calendar

A major aspect of getting ready for school (or life) is having a family calendar in a location where everyone can check in and see what's going on. This can be an organizing software program on your computer/laptop or a wall calendar. You'll want to have a personal calendar or organizer, but you'll also need a family calendar.



There are a number of great software programs that track several family members (some are free!). And there are several personal spiral/notebook type organizers - my favorite being the Planner Pad. I've done reviews of both software programs and notebook type organizers and will link the related posts below.



When my children were home, we used a huge calendar on the side of our refrigerator. My friend Carole, hangs hers inside one of her kitchen cabinets so it's not so unsightly. Now, with different foster children coming each week, it makes more sense for me to just post a weekly calendar from my Palm software. But if I still had kids at home, I would use something like Mom's Plan It Calendar. It's a 17-month calendar which can track up to 5 family members, with stickers, and more. Click the link on my sidebar to get a more detailed description.

Use a different color pen or marker for each person, and a separate color for family activities, and it's a breeze to decipher your daily activities!

Do you have a favorite family calendar or software program you use to organize your family?

Related posts: Product Review of Organizers - Daily Home Planner, Product Review of Organizers - The Planner Pad, Product Review of Organizers - PDAs, The Final Review of Organizers, Cozi 2.0, Oops

Bloggy Giveaway #3 - Three Organizing Ebooks

Let's do another giveaway! This time we'll make it ebooks. The three I've chosen are: Three Steps to Planning Dinner, Three Steps to Organizing Your Kitchen, and Three Steps to Clever Cleaning.





Three Steps to Planning Dinner is a smaller version of of the workbook by the same name (minus the grocery lists, recipes, recipe pages for your own recipes, and CD template of those pages), which helps you plan your menus and create shopping lists, so you only need to shop once a week!



Three Steps to Organizing your Kitchen helps you figure out how to make your kitchen most efficient and convenient.


And Three Steps to Clever Cleaning helps you identify your cleaning philosophy (bet you never heard of that one!) and determine how to keep your home clean in the quickest, most efficient way.


For more lengthy descriptions of each book, see my website.


Don't forget to enter by posting a comment below. And make sure you sign up for my other two giveaways!


Related posts: Bloggy Giveaway Carnival, Another Bloggy Giveaway from 1-2-3...Get Organized

Another Bloggy Giveaway from 1-2-3...Get Organized

I have decided to offer another giveaway in the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival - my downloadable Hassle Free Dinners. It's over 800 pages of weekly dinner menus (52 weeks), instructions, and weekly grocery lists. It takes all the planning out of cooking dinner. Pick a week's menu (they are arranged seasonally), and go grocery shopping!

The grocery lists are color-coded, so if you know you are not going to be eating at home on Wednesday, for example, you won't buy anything red. And the recipes are set up for 2, 4 or 6 servings, so you don't have to do the math. Even if you have picky eaters, you can substitute ingredients or double up on some meals you know your family will like.

Meals usually take 30 minutes or less (except on weekends when you might bake something, like a roast, that will be repurposed later in the week). Each meal includes a protein, a starch, and something red and something green - fruits and veggies. Recipes that have more than a couple of ingredients will have the nutritional values listed and the price per serving. Most meals run between 400-600 calories total, without being loaded with fat. Menus don't follow any particular eating plan (vegetarian, low carb, etc.) - they're just nutritious and tasty and quick!

Each week includes 1-2 chicken recipes, 1-2 beef recipes, 1-2 pork recipes, 1 fish recipe, and one meatless meal. A variety of cooking methods are used - crockpot, grilling, baking, microwaving, and sauteeing, but not deep frying. No entree is repeated for the entire year. Read some client testimonials. It's a marriage of professional organization and dinnertime!

To enter to win Hassle Free Dinners leave a comment below. To enter my other giveaway, scroll down to leave a comment on my July 28th blog. To go to the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival, click the title above.

Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist

With school starting next month for many next month, I want to run several blogs on getting organized for school. The inspiration for today's blog came from The Disney Dream Team's Tracy, who created a system for remembering what needed to go to school with each child.

While Tracy's system targeted her elementary school children, a backpack checklist would work for middle school, high school, and college students. This could even work as a briefcase reminder for work, too. This is how it works:

Create a chart listing the days of the week at the top. Under each day, make a column for each person who needs a checklist. On the far left, list possible items that might need to be included in the backpack that day: a band instrument, shoes for gym, signed paperwork, a folder or notebook for a particular class, library books, etc.

You can create your chart on your computer and reproduce it each week. Or you could use a dry erase board or laminate a poster board to re-use each week. Each person on the chart could be noted in a different color. Then items can be checked off on the appropriate day as a reminder to put those things in the backpack. Make sure you leave extra rows at the bottom for items that aren't necessarily needed each week.

To make life easier, have everyone pack their backpacks the night before. What a morning stress reliever!

What do you do to take the stress out of your mornings?

Related posts: Organizing for School - Papers, Get Organized for School - Clothing Inventory, Hope for Disorganized Students!, Getting Ready for School: Organizing Homework Papers