Products to Clear the Clutter

In a May 26, 2005 article published in the Salt Lake Tribune, The Good Housekeeping Institute tested products to help individuals get organized and lists their top 8 choices.

You can see the article at: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2763306

Although this is not a comprehensive list of organizing products (it only lists 8), it does seem to make some good recommendations to certain organizing problems. I’m not familiar with some of the ones they tested and recommended, however it’s good to learn what options are available to us.

And, of course, you’ll find lots more products to help organize stuff at *Organized-Living.com (*now OrganizedLifestyles.com). What can I say, I play favorites!

*Organized Living Message Board

I’m surprised at myself … I haven’t announced our new message board at Organized-Living.com!

So, I’m here to tell you now — we have a new way to interact and share your organizing issues and solutions. It’s the start of our Organized-Living.com community and I hope you’ll join in. Check it out:

*Now at: www.organizedlifestyles.com/forum

Selling stuff online

Not long ago I had a high-priced item for sell at eBay and received an email request from someone in South Africa to buy it with a cashier’s check. The request included details of sending the cashier’s check for an amount higher than the purchase price to cover his shipper … that I was to deposit the check, wait for it to clear the bank, and wire the extra money to his shipper, who would come for delivery of the item. It all sounded great, until I was informed of the scams so prevalant from would-be buyers in another country.

In checking out the scam references, I discovered a disturbing fact — that my potential buyer fit the scam to every detail. Apparently, when the check “clears” the bank in 5-10 days, the person then pays out the extra $1-2000 or so to the shipper. In actuality, a check takes about 2 weeks to clear the bank but they are not allowed to hold funds that long. When the bank discovers the check to be a fraudulent one, the account holder is responsible for those funds deposited into their account, and it must be reimbursed to the bank.

I mention this in detail because I almost fell into this scam… twice. I had another expensive item posted on Craigs List and received the same request.

So, it could happen at any place on the Internet where goods are sold. And, we just need to be alert to these kind of things and be cautious. I wouldn’t sell any item now without the buyer paying through PayPal, for instance. People doing scams do not want to pay using this method, as they can’t get away with the scam.

For more information about Internet buying scams, check out:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

It’s great to have places on the Internet to sell the things of high value we don’t want anymore, but we just need to be careful, that’s all.

Today’s To Do

My days have contained more variables than usual, and it’s always been up to my List to keep me focused. It can be disheartening when you’ve got your day planned, you’re going along checking things off the list, and then suddenly “things” happen.

Although this is not an uncommon occurrence for people, it still throws my activity rhythm off. Not much we can do about these matters, however how we deal with it can mean a productive day or an unproductive day.

At one time I tried to develop a habit of writing daily emails in the morning to my friend / associate that listed my To-do’s of what I was planning to accomplish that day. I did this for over a week, and it was a fun game to ensure I achieved everything I set out to do for that day.

I’m not sure what happened, but the habit fell off. I still have my To-do list each day, but it doesn’t seem to have the same impact as before, which helped ensure that I do the tasks. Maybe it’s because I don’t have anyone to answer to now?

So, to answer my own question … yes, I shall return to my successful action and start my email to-do list habit again. Besides, it’s always more fun to have a game when we have things to do!

Content Distribution for Blog

As I become more and more aware of blogging technology and distribution channels to feed my Get Organized Tips Blog through, I get excited about the potential of reaching more people. One recent discovery is being able to submit my blog to MyYahoo.

I use MyYahoo as my Internet homepage to quickly see all the content I want to have easy access to on a daily or frequent basis. This page allows me to change it, add to it, and customize it, so a lot of information is at my fingertips when I get on the Internet. One of the things new to MyYahoo is the ability to feed your favorite blogs to MyYahoo. This is done with RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication).

Now, blog visitors can add my Get Organized Tips content to their MyYahoo page, on their web site, or subscribe to receive the content to their email box. You’ll see the new MyYahoo button to feed to your MyYahoo page, and an orange xml button to feed content to your site.

Didn’t life just get easier?!

An Organized World

The global trends of family structure and speed of daily life have changed the landscape of retail merchandise toward organizing the home and providing decorative storage solutions. These trends have also increased the demand for professional organizers, as more and more people get backlogs of clutter.

TV shows like Bravo’s Queer Eye for a Straight Guy, TLC’s Clean Sweep, and HGTV’s Mission Organization have all put the focus on getting organized. Even decorating, talk shows, and news programs have jumped in to feature disorganization issues.

Real Simple Magazine puts emphasis on organization and organizing products, as do many catalog companies, like Lillian Vernon and Get Organized. Specialty stores such as The Container Store and Organized Living are popping up in nationwide markets. Newspaper and magazine articles featuring people getting organized are printed every day.

With all the emphasis on getting organized, we’re going to continue seeing a lot more people taking measures to make changes in their disorganized lives.

There’s a lot of organization tools out there now to get and stay organized — and you can check out some great organizing products at www.organizedlifestyles.com.

New Articles

(reposted from the Get Organized Blog)

To kick off my campaign on eco-organizingâ„¢, I have written a couple articles for a little more in-depth information about the principles of it:

Eco-styled Living Helps Optimize Resources In Your Home

Eco-organizedâ„¢ Homes Lead To A Healthy Environment

I’m very excited about utilizing these priniciples and helping others organize their home toward more eco-friendly living.

Cyndi Seidler
“The Eco-organizerâ„¢”

Eco-style – Live Smarter,more organized and eco-friendly lifestyles

With all the clever techniques to living smarter, more organized lifestyles, it’s time to go a step further and get organized with style — eco-style, that is.

My newest campaign is to not only help people get organized, but to help them get “eco-organized.” That means developing certain habits of recycling and utilizing recyclable material to preserve our natural resources.

What most people don’t realize about clutter is that it is unhealthy. They just see it as a nuisance or interference. However, truth is, clutter collects dust and dust is not healthy for us to breath.

Clutter isn’t the only thing threatening our well-being. Junk that accumulates and sits around without meaning, use, function, or value makes our lives more difficult.

A good “junk sweep” helps people let go of belongings they no longer need, helping to streamline their living environments. Some of this junk can be recycled — given to a charity that will distribute it or selling it at garage sales or Ebay.

Then, we get into buying habits. Often times when people get rid of things, they need or want to replace it with something else (like, a new piece of furniture that is more functional, for example). Eco-style is about recycled merchandise. Why buy a brand new coffee table when you can get an old one and refinish it? Why go out and get an expensive new sofa rather than a used one that can be reupholstered or covered?

Become eco-organized and start practicing organic and recycled living. That means clear out the clutter, get rid of the junk, and buy what you need for organized living from recycled material!

Cyndi Seidler
The Eco-organizerâ„¢
(the first and only organizer promoting organized “green home” living).

When “I Will” Becomes Too Much

Some of us tend to lead busy lives, working long hours, managing our homes and families, partaking in special projects, and fitting in a little social time with friends. People see how effective we are and come to us for certain things. We want to get involved and say “I will.” And sometimes, we can fit it in.

It’s the times we say “I will” over an already full agenda that we find ourselves over-extended and end up having to say “I can’t.” However, it doesn’t have to work that way.

I, for one, tend to say “I will” because I like to help, and I’ll take on something I’m passionate about or just like doing. Occassionally, this puts me in a tight situation of juggling too many activities, but I do know when to say “I can’t” when I know I can’t.

Tonight I went to our neighborhood association meeting and found myself volunteering to help organize a concert in the park. It isn’t just any park — it’s our park. I didn’t think about the projects and work load I already carried, I just wanted to help. And, this isn’t a bad thing. I’ll just have to manage every minute of my day as efficiently as possible.

This is where a lot of people fall off the rails. Managing time and projects within time can be challenging, but fun. If this can’t be done, we over-extend ourselves. After all, multi-tasking is only effective as long as we can remain focused.

Now’s the time, more than ever, for me to practice what I preach — I’ve got a lot to do!

The Case of Missing Items

Dear Watson,

Your reputation as a great detective is what leads me to write you. You see, I keep a rather organized house and try to keep everything in its place. When I use something, I put it back. When I’m finished with doing something, I put it away. Therefore, I know where to go when I need something. But, not lately.

In the past week, I have had to hunt for my portable phone; I seem to be missing pens from my desk; my drinking glasses are diminishing to the point I am using coffee cups to drink out of.

Not only that, but I’m finding things where they don’t belong. I find magazines on the sofa; hair dryers on my bathroom countertop; loose notes lying about; clothes thrown on chairs … to mention a few oddities.

My daughter has been staying with me for the past week before her move to NY. She’s hardly around much, so I haven’t been able to question her yet.

I’m still looking for the tv remote … and hope to find some clues to solve this mystery.

Yours truly,
Cyndi