Do you ever have days where nothing seems to go right and you are at the end of your rope? I think everybody has them and it usually comes when you have no more “in your cup” left to give. On the outset, it may seem like an unusual organizational tip, but it is so important to do whatever it takes to fill your cup before the day begins. If you don’t know what that means for you, you need to make it a priority to find out. For some, it may be praying, meditating, reading inspirational works, going for a run, sitting down at a potter’s wheel… whatever it takes.

Taking time to renew yourself is such an important element to the wellness and happiness of our lives, and if we don’t take the time to do it, we are often mired by an inability to focus. Think of the times when you were closest to your true self… I am certain that your life as a whole ran smoother and you probably enjoyed a level of organization. So before you do anything else today - refresh, regroup and take 15 minutes to do something that will give you the focus to do more, with more in your heart later. Good luck! 

Question: What do you do to recharge yourself, and refill your cup so you can give back? We’d love to hear your answers!

Continuing with our “Office” theme this week I wanted to share a tip for email efficiency. Aim to reply to e-mails within a couple days of reading them. This is something I have never been great at, BUT this is one of my personal New Years Resolutions. In my case, I often sit down to read them when I don’t have time to respond right then. The problem is that you then aren’t thinking of responding the next time you log on and read something else! I have seen the error of my ways and have resolved to not read e-mails until I have time to respond as well. It is far better to write people back in a timely matter - it shows that you are on top of your TIME as well as your belongings.

One of the great things about belonging to a community like the Savvy Organizer, is that we can help support each other in all areas of organization. Sometimes I am in need of support too - so feel free to offer suggestions and support this way as well! Good luck (for me and the rest of you too!!)

This week we are going to be talking about the office. This can be a trouble spot for many people, as things tend to pile up and having 10 spare hours to deal with it at once never seems to come… The solution is to work at it for 30 minutes a day until you have it all caught up. Once it is caught up (and this is the ultimate trick), spend a few minutes a day filing receipts, bills, info from the kids school… just dealing with all that paper mess that comes into your house everyday.

It hardly takes any time and is very important in keeping things tidy, and your sanity intact!! If you would like more information on this, check out show #10 - Dealing with Paper. Good luck!

Our tip today may seem obvious, but when we decided we were going to do a bedroom week, this HAD to be the tip. Drum roll please…. make your bed every day!!

This is honestly, one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your bedroom looks good. Have you ever heard of the “broken window syndrome”? It is a sociological theory that pretty much says, if one window in a neighbourhood is broken and is not fixed, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the neighbourhood falls into disrepair. This happens if you start letting things slide, just a little and it becomes contagious. This rule applies to every room in your house. Have you ever noticed that if you leave one dish on the counter, it soon becomes 20? Same thing for your bedroom. If you don’t make your bed, soon clothes will litter the floor and every available surface, empty cups will sit on your bedside table and paperwork will pile up on your dresser.

Best way to avoid bedroom chaos: always make your bed in the morning, tidy it before leaving the room and then SHUT THE DOOR!!! That way kids, pets, and stray mail will never find their way into your heavenly sanctuary.

If you find yourself in a chaotic state in your bedroom right now, never fear. Take a deep breath and use our Mantra “Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Focus, Focus, Focus”. You’ll be basking in a tranquil space in no time. Good luck!

This will be the last tip for our laundry week. I promised everyone a list of my favorite tried and true stain removers, and here it is so get your shopping list ready.

For general stains, I love to use OxyClean spray. For the most part, I find it extremely effective and love that it does such a good job. There is one major problem with it though - you can only spray things before putting it in the wash. If it stays too long, I have found that it bleaches some fabrics and has put HOLES in others (tiny little holes, but all over). I unfortunately learned that lesson the hard way. Don’t be scared off though - as long as you don’t let it sit for a couple days you should be just fine.

My other FAVOURITE is Sunlight Bar Soap. I think it has been around about a hundred years, but it is the only thing I know of that gets baby “explosions” out of their clothes. It requires a little elbow grease, but it will get any stain out - especially if treated fresh.

Another love of mine, is the Javex Bleach pen. The bleach pen is one you have to be careful with - you can’t let it sit longer than 10 minutes and realistically can only be used on white things that need a spot treatment. My recommendation is to have a list of stain removal tips (laminated is best) beside your laundry soap, for an easy handy reference. The biggest thing with stains is to deal with it right away, (use the Sunlight bar on anything, then hang the garment to dry, or throw it immediately in the wash so it doesn’t mildew), and to make sure that it does NOT go into the dryer until the stain is gone. Sometimes I will wash and air dry a stained garment 4 times before it finally comes out. Just be patient and work your Sunlight bar like crazy! Good luck treating your stains!

These are great references to print off, laminate and have beside your laundry soap:

Martha Stewart’s Stain Removal List

Martha Stewart’s Supply Checklist