Coffee Tables - 5 Tips on How to Keep Them from Becoming Clutter Magnets

                                          
Do your coffee tables end up being the depositories of your junk? It's so easy to drop things on coffee tables rather than put them where they belong.

My suggestions?

1. Get rid of coffee tables and find homes for those things you normally toss there.


2. If you must keep your coffee table, keep a basket underneath to collect magazines, the remotes, and other things that tend to clutter the table.


3. Buy coffee tables with drawers or shelves to store those things that tend to clutter the top.


4. Each night before bed, have everyone remove their items from the coffee tables and other surfaces.


5. Provide a place for family members to drop their stuff when they come in the door. Train them to do it!


More on eliminating clutter magnets:

Get Organized Month 2009 - Family Five Minute Challenge

Organizing Your Mud Room

Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub

Spring Cleaning Your Mood

When the girls got home from school a couple of days ago, I had shorts on because I had exercised earlier. The sun was shining - a rare occurrence in Ohio! It was almost 50 degrees! 

So some of the girls got their shorts on, too, and we went outside to soak up some sun.  We live next door to an elementary school, so we went to the playground and the girls got a chance to get out some pent-up energy. Even though they are teenagers, they enjoyed being little kids again. Sunshine and exercise - what mood lifters (and sleep enhancers)!

I came across the following article by Pat Murrah (Reid Hospital and Health Care Services' Community Education Department), which suggests these as well as other ways to improve your mood after a long, hard winter:

"Life circumstances influence about 10 percent of our happiness. Research shows that happiness is mostly influenced by what we do to deliberately make ourselves feel better. The following tips can help you feel happier, even when life gets stressful — especially when life gets stressful:

Look at old photos
 

Looking at pictures of your favorite vacation or your children when they were babies can bring back happy feelings.

 

Munch on nuts

They contain omega 3 fatty acids, which have been shown to have a calming effect.

Inhale a calming scent

Orange and lavender are scents that have been shown to have a relaxing effect. A few drops of scented oil on a handkerchief provides an on-the-go stress reliever.

Open your drapes or shades
 

The more light you are exposed to, the more calming the effect. If you work in an office without windows, take a break and seek sunlight.

Walk around the block
 

The exercise can provide a distraction during stressful times, plus increase your exposure to sunlight.

Clear away clutter
 

Looking at clutter can remind you of things not done. Tackle one project at a time until the clutter is gone.

Think fast
 

Research shows that rapid thinking may release “feel good” brain chemicals as well as provide a distraction. Try naming all the states with begin with the letter “m” or something similar to stimulate your brain.

Laugh
 

Laughter releases dopamine in the brain, which is a natural opiate. Watch funny videos, read a funny book or just look for the laughter in daily life.

Rethink retail therapy
 

Rather than spending money for material things, spend your money on “experiences.” Going with friends to dinner or to the lake will bring more happiness than a new pair of shoes.

Hang out with cheerful people
 
There is such a thing as mood contagion. Being around unhappy or negative people can affect your mood. Try and avoid the negative people and “catch” the mood of a happy, positive person."


More on improving mood:

5-Minute Stress Relievers - Music: The Great Stress Reliever

In a Winter Rut? Here's How to Climb Out!

5-Minute Stress Relievers - Change Your Attitude

 

No Cost Organizing: Drawer Dividers

Looking for some easy ways to create drawer dividers at no cost?

 

1. Cut up cereal boxes and use as dividers for socks, undies, etc.

  Photo: A Little Hut

2. If your drawers are deep enough, you could also use shoe boxes.

3. In the kitchen, use plastic meat trays (that ground turkey comes in) to hold your measuring spoons or other small items.                                                                                

No need to go out and buy drawer dividers unless you wish to do so! 

More on no/low-cost storage:

Containerizing Your Kitchen

Don't Make the #1 Organizing Mistake

Gaining Storage without Losing Floor Space

Statistics: The Health and Mental Health Benefits of Spring Cleaning

I really enjoyed the following  article by Health Net, Inc. about the health and mental health benefits of spring cleaning.  It's quite motivating! I hope you enjoy it.

"The month of March brings with it the official start of spring -- a season associated with renewal and romance, and, on a less lyrical level -- with dusting, scrubbing, and otherwise engaging in the roll-up-your-sleeves ritual known as spring cleaning. While heavy-duty housework hardly sounds inviting, Health Net, Inc. (HNT 24.16, -0.40, -1.63%) wants to spread the word that spring cleaning not only results in a tidy abode, but also brings with it mental health benefits. 

 

Studies have shown that a dirty, disorganized home can harbor health threats in the form of mold, bacteria and clutter-caused injuries, but such an environment also can negatively impact mental health, explains Ian Shaffer, M.D., chief medical officer of MHN, Health Net's behavioral health subsidiary. "A thorough spring cleaning definitely brings with it a feel-good sense of satisfaction," he adds, "and the physical exertion of dusting, vacuuming and scrubbing has been found to reduce stress and anxiety."

Shaffer points out that, while the physical benefits of exercise are well known, there's mounting evidence that exercise -- even in the form of housework -- brings with it mental health benefits. In fact, one study -- conducted by University College London -- found that as little as 20 minutes of housework per week reduced feelings of psychological distress. It was further found that the risk of mental health problems was reduced by one-fifth among those engaging in just 20 minutes of housework weekly. 

"Exercise is known to boost mental health," says Shaffer, "and house-cleaning activities are certainly a form of exercise. A bigger activity, like a top-to-bottom spring cleaning, helps you to feel organized and in control, and those feelings definitely result in reduced stress." 

The chores-calories connection

Doing housework not only lifts your spirits and lowers your stress level, but -- as an added bonus -- you also burn calories in the process. The American Heart Association categorizes housework as "moderate exercise," and says that a person weighing 150 pounds who engages in 30 minutes of household chores can expect to burn the following:

-- Cleaning a bathroom -- 200 calories

-- Doing laundry -- 133 calories

-- Making beds -- 130 calories

-- Washing windows -- 125 calories

-- Vacuuming -- 123 calories

-- Ironing --70 calories

-- Dusting -- 50 calories

Shaffer notes, "Household chores alone are unlikely to keep you physically fit, but this, along with other daily tasks, provides a portion of the physical exercise we all need. If you combine these activities with a structured exercise program, the results can be very positive." 

Stay organized after spring cleaning 

With the satisfaction of a successful spring cleaning behind you, Shaffer cautions against returning to one's previously disorganized ways. "Staying organized," he says, "encourages the good kind of stress." In fact, studies have shown that a feeling of control -- a feeling that comes with being organized -- is key to whether stress will serve as a positive force that fuels creativity and optimism or if it will serve as a negative force accompanied by a sense of helplessness and pessimism. 

Beyond optimism, being organized brings with it a bounty of other benefits. Shaffer points to three: 

-- Reduced time pressure -- Among the greatest sources of stress is time pressure, i.e., so much to do, so little time. While being organized doesn't add hours to the day, it does enable you to make the most of the 24 hours in each day. Organized individuals don't waste time wondering what work project is due when, or where a needed item -- from an unpaid bill to an uncashed check -- might be hiding. The time saved can be spent on any number of stress-busting activities, such as exercising or preparing a healthy meal. 

-- Disorganization makes it hard to see things in their components. Failing to see the parts leads to a few of the whole that can be very overwhelming and at times will lead to immobilization and people failing to act and move forward. 

-- No disorganization domino effect -- As a general rule, disorganization creates a ripple effect, impacting not only the offender, but also those around him or her. If you're disorganized, the fallout can extend to family, friends as well as co-workers, and a tension-filled environment can become the order of the day. Conversely, while organization doesn't guarantee harmony and happiness, it unquestionably helps." 

More on the benefits of organization: 

9 Ways to Enhance Your Health by Being Organized 

Interesting Clutter and Organization Statistics 

The "Do It Now" Mindset

Spring Cleaning the Attic

How can I be talking about spring cleaning when we still have snow on the ground?! It's gotten warm enough over the last couple of days, though, for some grass in our yard to peep out. But I realize the rest of the country may be experiencing spring-like weather. It's a great time to clean the attic whatever the case.

Spring is a wonderful time to attack the attic - it's still cool enough to be able to tackle this decluttering job! You certainly don't want to wait until summer. And the timing is perfect - you may find you have enough for a yard sale. Now that's motivating, isn't it?

Start by walking around your attic to take a mental inventory of what you have there. Designate corners for each category - Christmas, other seasonal decorations, keepsakes, off-season clothing, suitcases and traveling accessories, home repair supplies - whatever categories represent your life.

Now that you have designated certain corners for the categories you have stored in your attic, it's time to sort.

Start in one corner of your attic. You may want to surround yourself with several boxes - one for each category plus one for giveaways. As you sort each item, ask yourself:
- is it necessary?
- have you used it in the last year?
- is it important to you or someone else?
- could someone else use it?

If you absolutely must keep the item you're sorting, place it in the appropriate box. Have a trash bag nearby for those things that don't even qualify for giveaways.

Work your way around the attic. You may discover additional categories as you go. You may also find items in your attic which would be better used elsewhere in your home. Be creative - are there some keepsakes you want to keep that could serve as storage containers in your house? Your mother's tea cups could hold jewelry in your dresser drawer, for example. A trunk could hold toys or linens.

Place each box in the corner you have designated for that category.

Now that you've decluttered and sorted, you're ready to look at your storage needs for your attic.

Look at each category to see what would best house those items. Do you need large clear storage containers for linens? Do you need small boxes for books? Do you need a place to hang out-of-season clothes? Do you need shelves, drawers, hooks, etc?

Before you go out and purchase storage containers, look around your house, basement, garage, etc. to see if you already have such storage. You may have an unused dresser that would work for storage if it were moved up to the attic, for example.

Label each container with the contents so when you're hunting for something, you don't need to open every container. If you are using clear storage containers, write your list on a piece of paper and slide it down the side of the container so you can read it without opening the box.

Celebrate - good job done!!

A Basket a Day Keeps Chaos Away

Getting out the door in the morning is a monumental task for most families! In the past, we've talked about having a chart near your calendar, listing items each family member needs on specific days.

I recently read about an interesting way one person organizes items that must accompany members of her family out the door. She has a basket for each day of the week. Each basket holds items family members need on that particular day.

For example, if you need to return a borrowed item to someone you are going to see on Monday, stow it in Monday's basket. If a certain article needs to go to school on a particular day, placing it in the basket for that day insures it won't be forgotten. Library books that are due on Saturday can be dropped in Saturday's basket once read.

This is a great system for visual people, for people with ADD, and for those who don't like lists. Plus it cuts down on clutter because items have a place to live while they are waiting to leave the house.

But where to put those seven baskets? In a closet, perhaps. Or in a cupboard in your mud room or garage. Near the door where you exit your home, certainly.

I like this idea, don't you? Finding room for seven baskets might be a challenge, though.


More on getting out the door:
Getting Organized for School - Start the Night Before
Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub
Get Organized for School (or life!) - A Family Calendar

Containerizing Your Kitchen

Yesterday I helped a client organize her kitchen. As we sorted through her cupboards and drawers, we came across containers she doesn't use any more. Some were sentimental and some were not. We placed the containers on the table.

When we came across items that needed to be containerized, we had a selection of containers to choose from. She loved it when we could use a sentimental container to house an item. For example, we used a cute little pitcher with a lid to store her tea bags.

She has a basket collection which does double duty by being beautiful as well as storing things like coffee filters and such. We came across tins, plastic containers, and jars - all of which are great kitchen storage containers.

When containerizing, don't forget to look at sentimental items as storage, if you like to keep such things around you. A nice way to repurpose items you love!


More on containerizing:
Don't Make the #1 Organizing Mistake
Spring Cleaning the Attic - Part 3
Get Organized Month - Declutter Your Pantry

Spring Cleaning Your Habits

Need some extra time? Who doesn't!?! A good place to look for extra scraps of time is those habits we do without thinking. Sometimes it's nice to take a step back and evaluate if certain habits are costing valuable time. Here are some potential time traps:

- Reading rather than skimming articles, blogs, emails to determine if they are of interest
- Stopping for coffee rather than making it at home for a fraction of the time
- Allowing others to hold you hostage with their meaningless conversation
- Watch too much news or TV
- Spending too much time on video games, Facebook, etc.
- Letting chores pile up rather than tackle them as they arise (dishes, cleaning, sorting mail, etc.)
- Napping rather than establishing good sleep patterns

Habits are a comfortable part of life, but they can also gobble up our time if we let them. Start paying attention to those habits you have in your life to determine if they are helping or hurting you.

More on habits:
Five causes to disorganization
Tools to Track Your Computer Time
New Sleep Study Shows Risks of Acute and Chronic Sleep Loss

Overwhelmed by Unfinished Projects?

As I've studied personality types, I've learned that there are people who like to have closure and those to whom it doesn't matter as much. The former usually like to finish projects or will force themselves to do so for the sake of closure.

The latter may lose interest before the project is finished. This may be due to the inability to estimate how much time will be needed to complete the project. In addition, these people may be creative, artistic individuals with unlimited ideas and possibilities, and, as a result, unfinished projects.

If you're one with numerous unfinished projects lying around, start making some decisions! Give yourself permission to discard unfinished projects! If you've learned what you want to learn, enjoyed the experience along the way, and are ready to move on to something else, say goodbye.

If you're not yet ready to give up a project, either set a deadline for yourself or box it up to finish another time. Or box it up as a keepsake. That way, your project will not be sitting there, mocking you because you didn't finish.

By making decisions about your unfinished projects, you will rid yourself of clutter as well as the heaviness and guilt associated with them.

More on projects:
A Dozen Ways to Take the Stress out of Big Projects
Delegation - A Key Ingredient for Efficiency
Helping Your Child Organize Large Homework Projects

5 Tips for Storing Books

Hope you had a nice weekend! Ours was full - a birthday party, some drama, and some good talks. So ... what about books?


- If you have books you'd like to store, make sure to do so in a climate-controlled location. Attics, basements and garages will not be kind to your books due to the fluctuating temperatures and humidity.

- Store in banker's boxes. A regular cardboard box falls apart over time, and its glue attracts bugs. Banker's boxes can be easily stacked and are small enough to prevent becoming excessively heavy.

- If your books are dusty, wipe them off before storing.

- If your books are moldy, dispose of them or call a mold remediation specialist. Amateurs are not equipped to deal properly with mold, as the process is quite complicated. If mold is not dealt with, it will multiply, endangering yourself and your surroundings. Unless your moldy books are extremely dear to you, it may not be worth the expense and cleaning process to keep them.

- If you are dealing with dusty or moldy books, wear a mask and make sure your surroundings are well ventilated.

More on books:
80 Awesome Ideas for All Your Old or Unwanted Books from Online Colleges
Tools to Inventory Your Books
Decluttering Your Books with BookMooch

Color-Coded Taxes

Snow day today and the roads are completely clear! Calling for 6-15 inches now! Of course, three of the four girls were up by the time the closing was announced. Today is one of our girls' birthday and she requested oatmeal pancakes for breakfast. So everyone ate pancakes and went back to bed except birthday girl and me. :) More on taxes ...


We've started color-coding our taxes. We choose a color for the year and use that color for all tax files. Instead of seeing a sea of manila file folders when looking for last year's tax info, it's easy to locate all pertinent files because they're all yellow, for example. So pleasant on the eyes! I'll take anything that makes taxes more pleasant. :)


More on taxes:
Taxes - Knowing Which Papers to Keep/TossOrganizing
Tax Receipts

Getting Your Affairs in Order

Turn Friday Afternoon Blahs into Aaaahhhs

Another 6-12 inches? Come quickly, Spring! Now for today's blog ...


Friday afternoon is a time when it's hard to get motivated to do work. Thoughts turn toward the weekend, and you're drained from the work week.

Change gears! Use Friday afternoon to plan your schedule for next week, evaluating your progress on your goals, and tweaking where necessary. Create a to-do list for Monday morning.

Look over what needs to be in place in order to do what you need to do next week. If there are some things you can do today to lay the groundwork for next week, get those out of the way, if possible.

Friday afternoon is also a great time to file, shred and straighten up your office. These things are important, but not worthy of using your more productive time earlier in the week. You may want to address medium- or low-priority emails and phone calls, if you've been able to tackle those that are high-priority during the week.

While beginning or continuing intensive projects may not be the best use of Friday afternoons, it doesn't mean the time needs to be wasted. By changing your mental gears, you're setting yourself up for a great week next week!

More on using time efficiently:
Uni-Tasking vs. Multi-Tasking
Do You Have a Mid-Afternoon Priority Check?
Trivial and Strategic Interruptions
Three Steps to Time Management at the Office

Organizing Tax Receipts

Getting your documentation ready for taxes is stressful enough without wading through mounds of receipts! If you are one who just stuffs receipts throughout the year, here's a hint to make life easier next year.

As you're sorting your receipts for this year's taxes, label two sets of file folders - one for this year and one for next year. By sorting this year's receipts into appropriate categories, you'll know which categories you'll most likely need for next year.

Drop next year's file folders into a hanging file. Now, instead of stuffing receipts into one location, take an extra moment to drop them into the appropriate file. Not much work now, but it saves hours of work later.

And if you file your receipts starting with January in the front, adding later receipts in the back, you will already have them in chronological order, too!

Even if you've already started stuffing this year's receipts, take some time and organize them into files. You'll thank yourself next year when tax time rolls around!


More on taxes:
Taxes - Knowing Which Papers to Keep/Toss
Taxes - a little at a time
Can Your Loved Ones Find Your Important Documents?

80 Awesome Ideas for All Your Old or Unwanted Books from Online Colleges

It's wonderful to be home again - and it's so quiet! LOL Let's talk about books ...


Once again Online Colleges has provided us with an amazing list of great ideas - this time, uses for old and unwanted books:

"Maybe the semester has passed and you forgot to sell back your text books, or perhaps you just held on to too many books over the years and now you need to figure out what to do with all of them. You don’t want to throw them away, so what is left to do with them all? Here are 80 awesome ideas that will have you realizing that books aren’t just for education.

Around the House

Use your old books around the house in creative ways with these ideas.

1. Step aerobics. Don’t buy expensive equipment to do step aerobics at home. Use old books instead. Tape or cover them in fabric to keep them in place.
2. Yoga block. Use a book or two as a yoga block.
3. Coasters. Use small books as coasters for drinks. If you have a set, such as from a children’s book series, you can have a matching set of coasters for an eye-catching statement.
4. Kneeling pad. Put some padding on an old book and tape it or wrap it in fabric to make a kneeling pad you can use while gardening.
5. Table legs. Use a stack of old books to replace a missing table leg rather than throwing both the books and the table away.
6. Book safe. Cut out the center of old books to hide valuables, such as extra cash or jewelry, in plain sight.
7. Headboard. Choose the books with the best covers and make a headboard with them.
8. Door stop. Are your doors never staying open? Use a heavy book to keep it in place.
9. Step stool. If you have a hard time reaching the top shelves in your kitchen, tape books together to make a handy step stool.
10. Make cheese. Homemade cheese, like the type used in Indian food, is easy to make. Use an old book to press the cheese after it has drained.
11. In the freezer. Place pages from old books between foods in the freezer to keep them from freezing together.
12. Paper towel substitute. Instead of using paper towels for absorbing grease off bacon or fried foods, use pages of a book. They can also be used in the same way to separate baked goods.
13. Trivets. If you feel like you never have anyplace to safely put those hot pots and pans, try using an old book as a trivet.

Decorate

There’s no need to spend tons of money to decorate your apartment or house when you can reuse old books.

14. Lamp. Use three books to make this fun lamp.
15. Picture frame. Using a children’s board book, you can alter it slightly to create a custom-sized double picture frame.
16. Wall art. Turn eye-catching covers or brightly-colored pages into wall art to decorate your home.
17. Create art. Check out these art projects done with old books to spark your creativity for your own project.
18. Make a hymnal angel. If you have an old hymnal lying around, make this stunning hymnal angel.
19. Tabletop. If you have an old table that could use a facelift, use the pages of a book to decoupage a table top.
20. Word plates. Use old plates and text cut out of old books to decorate in an unusual way.
21. Wreath. Make an attractive wreath from an old paperback book.

School and Office

From desks to pen holders to art journals, you’ll find great ways to reuse old books in your office or for school.

22. Lap desk. Use an old book that is big enough to rest your laptop or papers on for a great, portable lap desk.
23. Paper weight. Don’t let important papers get lost. Put them under an old book to keep them in place.
24. Wall book shelf. Make a book shelf on your wall from a few old books.
25. Book case. If you need more shelves for your books, make a book case out of hardback books like this one.
26. Book ends. Lay stacks of books at either end of your upright books to keep them from sliding over.
27. Pen holder. Make a pen holder out of the spine and pages of a phone book or other soft back book.
28. Art journal. Gesso over the pages and you have an art journal ready to use.
29. Magazine reader. Take the pages out of a book and recycle them, then slip a magazine into the hardback left behind to have a handy way to hold your magazines.
30. Desk. If you have tons of books but no desk, then you are in luck. Stack your books and put a piece of wood or an old door on top to make a desk of your own design.

Reuse the Pages

While hardcore book lovers may have a hard time tearing out the pages of any book, for those less faint of heart, use the pages of your old books in these creative ways.

31. Recycle. Recycle them any place that takes old phone books for recycling. If they are hardback, tear out the pages for recycling, then reuse the covers for some of the great ideas here.
32. Kindling. Use them as kindling to get your fireplace or camp fire started.
33. Mulch. Shred them to make a great mulch for your garden or landscaping.
34. Origami. If you are learning how to do this ancient Japanese art, practice with pages from your unwanted books.
35. Packing material. If you need to send something through the mail, use the pages for packing material in your box. If your box is too big for the item you are shipping, you might even be able to wedge it between books to keep it from sliding in the box.
36. Moving. If you have a move in your future, use the old pages to wrap breakable items for packing and moving.
37. Cat litter. Use shredded pages for cat litter that is easy on the paws and the wallet.
38. Wrap gifts. If you have small gifts that need wrapping, use a page or two from an old book.

Crafts

Make crafts from unwanted books like the ideas here.

39. Make an envelope. You will want to have one side blank so you can address the envelope, but you can use pages for making envelopes for personalized notes or cards.
40. Flowers. Make paper flowers from the pages to create a sweet gift for the book lover in your life.
41. Basket. Instead of magazine pages, use book pages to weave a paper basket.
42. Gift tags. Make unique gift tags from comic books or even the regular pages of any book.
43. Stationary. Use pages of a book as the recycled paper needed here to create your own stationary.
44. Gift bag. Instead of using expensive gift bags, make your own from book pages when it comes time for gift giving.

For Kids

Teach kids the importance of reusing when you utilize these awesome suggestions.

45. Booster seat. If you know a toddler who can’t quite reach the dinner table, use big books as a booster seat. If you need to use more than one, tie them together to ensure they don’t slide off or cover the stack in old fabric.
46. Leaf press. Have kids put leaves inside or under old books for pressed leaf art projects. This also works with flowers.
47. Paper mache. Let the kids use pages from old books for paper mache projects.
48. Confetti. Shred the pages of a book to make confetti for cascarones.
49. Easter basket. Use shredded pages for lining Easter baskets instead of using plastic "grass."
50. Paperback apple. Help your kids create a cute paperback apple that would make a great decoration for the house or unique teacher’s gift.
51. Clock. You and your child can make a unique clock from an old children’s book for your child’s room.
52. Reuse text books. Teachers and homeschool parents can use these great ideas for reusing old text books in resourceful and educational ways.
53. Paper clay. Use book pages as the recycled paper in this recipe for making paper clay.
54. Supply box. Cut out the middle of an old book and make an awesome box for the kids to keep their art or school supplies in.

Clothing and Accessories

Find out how to reuse books as clothing and accessories that will definitely turn a few heads.

55. Paper dress. If you are feeling really creative, read about paper dresses and try your hand at making one.
56. Brooch. Make a one-of-a-kind brooch from pages of a book and paper mache.
57. Earrings. Fold a book page into an origami earring that will truly be eye-catching.
58. Bracelet. Use your book pages and glue you make yourself to create a bracelet.
59. Jewelry box. After you’ve made your jewelry from an old book, why not use another book to make a jewelry box to keep it in.
60. Party hat. Make your own party hat from pages in a book. This works best if you have an old coffee table book with larger pages.
61. Handbag. Use an old book with a cover you really like to create a fun handbag like this or this.
62. iPod case. Make an iPod case from an old book.

Phone Books

It seems hardly anyone wants those phone books, even if they are current, but these keep showing up on doorsteps everywhere. Here are some great ways to put them to good use.

63. Clean paint tools. Use the pages from a phone book to clean the paint off your brushes and other painting tools.
64. Clean your windows. Tear out the pages and use them along with a mixture of vinegar, dish soap, and water to have a great window and glass cleaner.
65. Gift bows. Cut strips of phone book pages to create fun bows to put on gifts.
66. Wallet. Using the pages of a phone book and some tape, you can make a wallet in a matter of minutes.
67. Flip book. Draw on the corners of a phone book to make a flip book.
68. Coffee table. Check out this creative way to make a phone book coffee table.
69. Cutting mat. Use a phone book as a cutting mat that will not harm your cutting blade.
70. Toilet paper. It may not be as soft as what you buy in the store, but this toilet paper alternative sure won’t cost much.
71. No phone books. Register to be taken off the list for phone book distribution and make sure they never make it in to your house or sign a petition to stop widespread distribution altogether.

Getting Rid of Them

Find lots of creative ways to get rid of your old books without just throwing them away.

72. Book swap. Have a book swap in your neighborhood to find new ones and get rid of old ones.
73. Library. Donate your books to the local library when you are finished with them.
74. Sell on the Internet. It’s easy to sell your books on the Internet, and it might even bring in a little extra cash.
75. BookCrossing. Give your books away through a fun project like BookCrossing.
76. Leave them at a coffee shop. Put a little "free" sign next to a stack of books and leave them at your local coffee shop.
77. Hospital. Give your old books to hospitals. They will give them out to patients.
78. Trade. Many used book stores will let you trade your old books for different books or for CDs or video games.
79. Freecycle. Give them away through Freecycle.
80. Gifts. Give them as gifts to the readers in your life–especially if you have old hardbacks that book collectors might appreciate."

Aren't these amazing ideas?

More on books:
Decluttering Your Books with BookMooch

A Last-Minute Clutterless Gift Idea - BookSwim
Tools to Inventory Your Books

What is #1 on Your Agenda Each Day?

We've had a lovely visit with our daughter - heading back home today. We got to meet her friends, cook together, play games, talk - so nice to be together! On to our blog:

What is #1 on your agenda each day?

Read your emails? Read your texts? Listen to messages? Look at the mail? Nope.

Your first priority each day should be to look at your calendar, which should include your prioritized to-do list.

It is so easy (and tempting) to take a look at what has come into your inbox first thing in the morning. By doing so, however, you may become distracted by interesting or even important information, which will likely keep you from attacking your top priority for the day.

By tackling your top priority first thing in the morning, you'll be accomplishing the most important and most urgent item on your to-do list. When you need to take a break (usually after 45 minutes of concentrated work), look over your inboxes (mail, email, texts, etc.). But don't let them distract you from your work when you need to return to it.

Schedule times during your day to deal with your email and phone calls - but not at the beginning of the day (unless it is your highest priority!). Turn off the alerts that notify you of new emails to reduce further distractions. Notify your clients, co-workers and others of the times when you will return email, phone calls, etc.

By keeping your calendar in front of you, it will act as a filter when potential interruptions present themselves. If you are aware of your calendar and your to-do list, you may be able to request that the interruption take place at a more appropriate time during the day. For example, if someone needs to talk to you, ask if it might be discussed at a time when you anticipate you'll need a break anyway. Deliberate carefully before interrupting your work when you're on a roll.

I have a list of three or four things I do first every morning - my top priorities. That way, I don't find myself wandering through the day, but concentrating on those things which matter most.


More on Efficiency:
Three Steps to Time Management at the Office
Trivial and Strategic Interruptions
Creating Routines and Systems