College Bound

Don’t forget to take drawer and shelf paper when you move your college student into the dorm. The previous occupants may not have been concerned about cleanliness, and opening a drawer to put away underwear only to find a sticky substance in the bottom of the drawer, will only make leaving your precious baby more difficult. So line those drawers and shelves with paper to remind your kid that they have a mom at home who cares.

City of Dallas Recycling Date Announced

The City of Dallas Sanitation Services department is hosting its Super Recycling Summer Roundup at four locations on Saturday, August 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each location is accepting hard-to-recycle items such as televisions, toys, clothing, used books, scrap metal, electronic, furniture, batteries, appliances, and light bulbs. And for the first time ever, building materials will also be accepted! Bring doors; electrical wires, plugs and plates; fans; hardware; light fixtures; lumber; plywood; sheet rock; gutters; all types of pipe; plumbing supplies; tubs; sinks; roofing materials; canales; and hand and electric tools.
NO household chemicals, paint, large styrofoam or plastic film will be accepted. For information call 3-1-1.

Locations:
Dallas International School - 6039 Churchill Way , 75230
Elliott’s Hardware - 4901 Maple Avenue , 75235
*The shred pod will be at this location.
Stonewall Jackson Elementary - 5828 E. Mockingbird Lane , 75206
Mountain View College - 4849 W. Illinois Avenue , 75211( South Stadium Parking Lot)

Purge in the Pantry

30 minutes is all it would take to have another look at your food storage, whether a pantry, cupboard or cabinet. Start by throwing away all expired foods, then look through your canned foods for extras you could donate to a local food pantry or a neighbor. Depending on the space, add a lazy Susan for spices or an over the door shelf to increase your storage space. By grouping food by category or by time of day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks), you can decrease the time it takes to search for an item you need.

Go here to see more ways Kessler Simple Solutions can help you save time and money by organizing your pantry and kitchen.

Recommendation

I replaced all the hangers in my closet with slim line hangers I bought at Costco. I got 50 hangers for around $16 and I love them. The hangers have a velvet like surface so shirts do not slip off. And because all the hangers are the same color (mine are black), and I organized my clothes by color, my closet looks very neat and tidy.

Two thumbs up for these slim line hangers.

Here's a tip you won't want to throw away.

Keep a wastebasket where trash tends to accumulate, whether it is in the kitchen, family room or foyer. If you know you will throw food into it, purchase a wastebasket with a lid and some deodorizing trash bags. Adding a wastebasket might cut down on the clutter.

Time-Saver #4

Doctors’ offices are notorious for wasting our time. So when you find yourself sitting for ten minutes:

1. Tackle some items on your “to-do” list: write a thank you note or card to a friend, call your mother, make a lunch date, or
2. Bring a tote bag with some sewing repair projects, or
3. Check out the health magazines in the doctor’s waiting room and learn something new about your body or a great new exercise,
4. Close your eyes and practice deep breathing and organize your thoughts.

When your name is finally called, don’t forget to take a magazine with you to the exam room, where you will probably have to wait ten more minutes to see the doctor!

Time-Saver #3

Waiting in the car-pool line at school, you have ten minutes in the car to:

1. Pick up all cups, napkins and litter in the car and put it in a trash bag.
2. Pay bills. Store your statements, envelopes, checkbook, register, and stamps in an accordion file with a handle. Then you can drive by the post office on your way home.
3. Schedule appointments for the dentist, doctor or hair salon.
4. Organized the glove compartment.

Now treat everyone to an ice cream with the spare change you found under the seats and in the cup holders.

See, organizing is a good thing everyone can enjoy!

Time-Saver #2

While the tub fills up, you have three minutes in the bathroom to:

1. Toss used towels in the laundry hamper and hang up fresh towels, or
2. Straighten the linen closet and make a pile of threadbare washcloths and towels to recycle as dust rags, or
3. Look throught the medicine cabinet and toss expired prescriptions and OTC medications, or
4. Clean the toilet, or
5. Organize the space under the vanity, or
6. Organize your make-up drawer. Lipstick and mascara that is three to six months old are breeding grounds for bacteria and should be tossed.

Once the bathtub is filled, toss the kids in and enjoy reading a book to them while they bathe.

Or better yet, light some candles and jump in yourself for a long, relaxing soak. You deserve it!

Time-Saver #1

Think you don’t have the time to organize your home? Once you think about the time you spend waiting for this or that, the minutes can add up says Donna Smallin, the author of The One-Minute Organizer. She says to put those wasted minutes to work; even just five minutes a day adds up to seven hours a month which is plenty of time to get organized.

While popping popcorn, or if you have three minutes in the kitchen why don’t you:

1. Organize the day’s mail – toss the envelopes and inserts along with the junk mail.
2. Organize a drawer.
3. Pop open the leftovers containers in your refrigerator to see what is still edible and tossing what is not. Check out expiration dates on milk and condiments.
4. Sort through your coupons and toss the expired ones. File new ones by category and date.
5. Take out the trash and recyclables.
6. Empty or load the dishwasher.
7. Wash out and refill the food and water bowls for your pets.

Now, go enjoy guilt free time in front of the TV, you've earned it!!

An Empty In-Box

An empty in-box is like a clean, organized closet. When you open it, you feel lighter - free to go on to more important things in your life.

I read a great article in the NYTimes this morning about keeping your email in-box empty. Go here to read the tips this author gives for email management.

To me keeping things simple makes perfect since. The more time you spend on handling or organizing emails, paper, clothing, pictures - whatever it is that is bogging you down - the more complicated things can become.

KEEP IT SIMPLE is the motto at Kessler Simple Solutions, and we can show you ways to simplify your life. Go here to see how we can help you.

Goodwill will take your stuff.

When you are cleaning out your closet or garage, keep in mind the Goodwill for the stuff you don’t want to keep anymore. Go here to see what they will accept. For those of us who live in Oak Cliff, the closes Goodwill drop off trailer is on the northeast corner of Westmoreland and Singleton.

Kessler Simple Solutions will help you pack up your items and even take them to Goodwill for you. Go here to see other ways we can help you.

Thanks so much to the Verandah Club for inviting us to speak during their Renaissance Fitness Program. We had a great group of men and women attend our presentation on HOW TO DIG YOURSELF OUT FROM MAIL CLUTTER. We shared tips on sorting and filing both paper mail and electronic mail. We even learned something new from one of the participants who showed us how to “diary” an email for follow up by using the right click button. Another great tip to move emails out of the inbox!

Old VHS Home Videos

If you are still cluttered with VHS tapes of home videos it is possible to convert them into DVD. There are computer programs that can help you with this, or you can hire someone to do it for you.

Skinny vs. Fat Clothes

Ten years ago I got down to a size 2. It felt great but it was very hard to maintain that size. I'm now a size 8, but I have hung on to my size 2 jeans for a long time, along with my size 4 and 6s! Do I think I really will wear the skinny sizes again? Why am I making myself feel bad for being a size 8?

"Goal clothes are a big no-no. First and foremost, they are depressing to look at, and secondly, by the time you are able to fit into them again, they may be out of style."

I have finally rid my closet of my unrealistic size 2s and 4s. This has made room for updated clothes in sizes I can wear now. Plus, I love the extra space I have in my closet!!

Start cleaning out your closet and make room for new. It feels great!

Need a reason to "pop" a cork?

To turn wine corks into flooring and wall tiles, send them to Wine Cork Recycling, Yemm & Hart Ltd., 610 South Chamber Drive, Fredericktown, MO 63645. Or put them in your compost bin – they are a natural product. Of course, plastic corks can’t be composted or recycled.

Or better yet, buy wine with screw top closures. Not as romantic but still as good!

Are you a paper saver?

We all come across a cartoon, poem, recipe, article – the list is endless- something that we think we want to save. But beware of becoming a paper collector. Many people take up a lot of space with papers that never get read. Ask yourself how important a sheet of paper is to you before you take ownership of it.

And remember, papers that are important today, may not be so important next week. It is vital to go through your files and piles on a regular basis and recycle anything that is outdated or no longer necessary. Do this at a minimum every six months.

Kessler Simple Solutions can assist you in going through your piles of paper and cleaning out your files. Go here to see all the ways we can help.

Scrap those scraps - of paper.

Avoid writing important notes on scraps of paper, for example the back of your bank account deposit slips. For one thing, scraps of paper are easily lost and for another, they do nothing but add to the paper clutter. If you have to write something important down, write it in a notebook. Then you can more easily transfer your notes to your calendar, To Do list, Rolodex or wherever.

Reducing telemarketing calls

Federal law prohibits telemarketers from

"Initiating an outbound telephone call to a person when that person previously has stated that he or she does not wish to receive an outbound telephone call made by or on behalf of the seller whose goods or services are being offered."

You may simply interrupt the telemarketer and say "Please permanently remove me from your calling list". Remember that they just interrupted you. If the same people call back, they are violating the law.

Something to really smile about.

Did you know you can recycle toothpaste tubes? Even with all the sticky paste inside, you can recycle aluminum tubes (put them with your aluminum cans), but not plastic ones. So be sure to buy toothpaste packaged in aluminum tubes!!

No More Unwanted Catalogs

Go here to opt out of receiving catalogs through the mail that you don't want. I signed up some time ago and totally forgot about it. Today I received an email confirmation from Land's End saying my name had been removed from their catalog mailing list!

What is Clutter?

"Getting organized at home will ensure that you make the most of what you have. At work, managing your time and priorities will enable you to provide more value and be happier," says Organizing Professional, Julie Morgenstern. Julie has been in the organizing business for 20 years, having written several books about de-cluttering. Her ideas are about common sense evaluation of why we hang on to our stuff. Here is her definition of clutter:

"A Zen parable tells of a wanderer on a lonely road who came upon a torrential river that had washed out the bridge. So he built a solid and heavy raft, which carried him safely across to the other bank. 'This is a good raft,' he thought. 'If there's another river ahead, I can use it.' And he carried it for the rest of his life. How often do we hang onto things that served us well at one point in our lives but are no longer relevant or useful? Clutter is something that no longer serves you."

January is a great time to evaluate life's priorities, make resolutions, and most importantly, move into action. Kessler Simple Solutions will coach you through your action plan and enable you to meet your resolutions for a simplier, less cluttered home or office.

Email Clutter

Tips for organizing your e-mail.

The following steps when practiced daily will help you keep your inbox organized and clutter free. Just a bit of discipline is all it will take to reduce your time dealing with emails and will free you up to respond to emails.

1. Use your DELETE button!!! If you do not recognize the sender or the SUBJECT field is alpha-numeric gibberish or makes no sense, do not open but delete the email.
2. Filter you mail by setting up email folders. Filters, or Rules as they are called in Outlook, allow you to organize as you download your email.
3. Use your filters or rules to send certain emails directly to the trash. No more offensive emails!
4. For the “orphaned” emails that have no where to go – if needed, stop right there and make a folder and set up a filter, or rule, to accommodate any future emails.
5. Read and delete any email that doesn’t have content worth keeping for future reference. Then empty your trash daily.
6. While reading your email, prioritize when you want to address them. Most email programs allow you to label email by color as you read them. For example, red is for urgent response, blue for later, and yellow for maybe. At a glance you will know which email you have to address and which can wait until later.
7. Empty your trash daily but be sure to quickly review the trash in case your filters inadvertently pickup up on some terms that were included in an email that you may not want to trash.
8. Create a folder called “follow-up”, “interesting”, or “to do”. This is where you will move an email that peaks your interest but you don’t have time to read the details. Later you can take the time to check into the emails worth keeping. Once you review them, either send them to another folder for keeps or send them to the trash.
9. Clear you inbox each day to avoid email backup. Move email to trash, a specific folder or your “to do” folder, and then empty your trash. If an email is older than 90 days in your “to do” folder, send it to the trash as the information or offer is more than likely out of date.
10. Have as many folders as you like and call them whatever will intuitively work for you at a glance. This is your system so make sure it works for you.