A dream of mine would be to inspire each of you to keep the bulk of your children’s toys out of their bedroom. To a few of our readers this may sound a bit backwards, and of course I understand it may not work if you don’t have a family room or basement, however for the rest of us the idea has a lot of merit for a number of reasons:

1. The first reason is that it keeps your little ones bedroom as a good place for a time-out. If there are tempting toys in there, your child’s room doesn’t make a time-out effective, it’s just way too fun in there!
2. It designates their room a place to sleep, calm, and read (isn’t that what bedrooms are for?)
3. Can’t help but keep the bedroom tidy and uncluttered.
4. Helps to encourage your children to play together outside of their bedroom – they then have to be in the same room together, and I believe that this helps foster little relationships.
5. (This is the most important one) It helps you keep an eye on your kids so that they don’t get into trouble!

Some children need a few comfort toys in their rooms and that is definitely ok, but try to keep the toy clutter it to a minimum. It will save your sanity. Your life of keeping things organized, and your children’s space staying tidy will get a lot easier.

While this may not be up everybody’s alley, I always look forward to spring & getting a garden in! My husband grew up in a house where his mom made him help plant their garden and consequently, he knows what he is doing. My experience in a garden is eating fresh peas… and that is ALWAYS fun! Unfortunately for me this year, Paul is right in the middle of preparing for some large exams and so if I want a garden, it is up to me!

Accepting the challenge, I have decided to roll up my sleeves and dig in. So the task for this Friday is to think about the potential for a garden where you live. We all know there is nothing better than fresh veggies, so even if your garden is a planter on the balcony with tomatoes - plan for it!! Today is the day to think about why you might like a garden, what you LOVE to eat, how much you want of it… For those who are more experienced - you can try to plan growing durations and various shade plants… all too overwhelming for me this year… but maybe next year! I can’t wait to plan my garden and know that this year, it will all be the fruits (ok - veggies only in this Northern climate) of my labour! I will definitely be enlisting the help of my soon to be six year old as well. Hopefully, by the time he is an adult, he will be more garden savvy than his mom! Happy planning!

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!