Category Archives: Organizing

Posts or podcast episodes where we discuss organizing, getting organized, or give tips to help you organize.

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How To Organize Your Photos

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If you’re anything like the rest of us, you probably have a ton of loose photos and are wondering: “How the heck should I organize them?”  Well, don’t worry. We all struggle with photos, but just  like you would organize a space in your home, you can use the same approach with organizing your photos: Sort, Edit, Organize and Enjoy!

How To Organize Your Photos

1. SORT your photos:

  • A lot of folks want to organize their photos in chronological order. That’s ok, but it can be difficult….especially if you want to organize your old photos that aren’t saved digitally with a date/time stamp.
  • I find it easiest to sort into categories like: PERSON, PLACE, EVENT, SUBJECT or ACTIVITY.
  • Here are some ways I’ve categorized my photos: Early Childhood, Old Family Photos, Christmas/Holidays, Sports, Work, Military Service, Weddings, Baptism, Graduations, Travel, Camping, Kid’s Artwork, etc.

Read more…

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SLT045: Your House Is On Fire, You Can Save 5 Things. What Are They?

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What are your most important things? We talk a lot about getting rid of “stuff” on the show, and in our lives that’s what we’ve tried to do. We’ve gotten rid of just about 3000 things this year alone and have a couple hundred people who’ve joined in on it by accepting the Edit & Forget It Challenge.  While we have opted out of following the mass consumerism that most in our society hold dear, there are still some things we ourselves hold dear. We created a scenario: “What 5 things would you grab if your house was on fire?” and then put ourselves to the test to figure out what possessions, out of our entire home, are the most important to us.

What Possessions Would You Save From a Fire?

As we went through this exercise it really challenged us and realized that by spending some time thinking about your most important things…those top 5 things that you would grab out of your burning home, it greases your mental gears to:

  • Identify the your most important things. Things that mean the most to you and why.

  • Contemplate whether you’re giving those things the attention they deserve day to day.

  • Identify ways to keep those things safe now and ready to carry out if necessary.

  • Condition yourself to more easily part with things that didn’t make the list.

  • Get you thinking about being prepared in case of an emergency.

Read more…

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SLT042: The Upside of Downsizing

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Downsizing is a word we hear a lot about these days, and I’m surprised at how often it’s talked about in the negative sense versus the positive. If you’re not familiar with the term, typically, we hear “downsizing” being used in one of two contexts: the first is as a business term, used when business are scaling down & people are getting fired or laid off. The second context is the one we’re focusing on today. It’s often when people are facing retirement or decide it’s time to make some lifestyle changes and “scale back” their personal econoomies. Heck, sometimes the business downsizing leads to personal downsizing!

Downsizing

In the end we think you’ll agree that downsizing can be a very positive thing. Armed with some information, downsizing tools, and a plan, you too can benefit from the “upside” of “downsizing.” Read more…

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SLT034: Let’s Talk Money, & An Interview with Bonnie Dewkett

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Let’s Talk Money, & An Interview with Bonnie Dewkett, The Joyful Organizer

Whether we like it or not, many things in life boil down to relationships.  We all have a relationships with money and we all have relationships with the “stuff” in our lives. Again, just like many other things in life, our relationships can be positive or negative experiences. But often it just depends on how we frame them.

Seth Godin on Money

So, let’s take a look at our relationship with money and our relationship with “stuff”. To help us look at money, we’re going to discuss a recent article by Seth Godin, one of our favorite bloggers. To help us look at the things we surround ourselves with in life, we’ll talk to Bonnie Dewkett, Certified Professional Organizer from The Joy of Organizing podcast. Read more…

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