S – Sort: The first step is to sort your items into categories.  You’ll want to put like items with like items, (paints with paints, pencils with pencils, etc.).  This will tell you how much stuff you actually have in any one category.

T – Toss: Once you know how much stuff you have it’s time to take stock and toss any items that you don’t use, are outdated or unusable. I suggest that you keep only what you love or need.  Tossing can be anything from throwing in the garbage to donating or selling an item.

A – Assign a Home: This is the part of the process that is like putting together a puzzle.  Finding just the right space for your items is part of the creative process.

Think about how you use the items.

Think about where you use the items.

Think about how often you use the items.

C – Contain: Containerize any items that are possible and feasible to contain. It will help make items easier to find and store. Label, when necessary, especially those items with closed tops. Keep the systems you choose as simple as possible.  If you have items that you rarely use and don’t want to get dusty, then using a storage container with a closed top is a good choice; however, if you have supplies that you use frequently, then an open top container may be a better choice.

K – Keep It Up: This may involve building new habits if necessary and practicing putting items away after they’re used.

It’s easy to get stuck in your own space with organizing projects. If you are stuck, please call or email for a free consult!

Darla Pompilio

Your Tasks Our Time

The post The Stack Method appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

The good news is that many organizing projects can be tackled using the same method.  We use the STACK method for our clients because it’s simple, easy to follow and it works on almost any organizing project.

S – Sort: The first step is to sort your items into categories.  You’ll want to put like items with like items, (e.g. paints with paints, pencils with pencils).  This will tell you how much stuff you actually have in any one category.

T – Toss: Once you know how much stuff you have it’s time to take stock and toss any items that you don’t use, are outdated or unusable. I suggest that you keep only what you love or need. Tossing can be anything from throwing in the garbage to donating or selling an item.

A – Assign a Home: This part of the process can be accomplished by asking yourself a few questions.

How you use your items?

Where do you use your items?

How often you use your items?

C – Contain: Containerize any item/s that are possible and feasible to contain. It will help make items easier to find and store.

K – Keep It Up: This may involve building new habits if necessary and practicing putting items away after they’re used.

When the burden clutter is lifted from our shoulders, we may feel physically lighter, more energetic and less stressed. This relief can lead to increased work productivity, greater enthusiasm and better relationships.

Darla Pompilio

Professional Organizer

Your Tasks Our Time, LLC

The post How to Declutter and Organize Any Space appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

Below are a few suggestions to help you keep clutter at bay.

Give Everything a Home

When your items have no place to live, they end up on all the surfaces of your home. The hidden spaces in your home are the key to clearing the clutter on the surfaces. Start with one cabinet, drawer or closet at a time. Sort, purge and categorize items so you know what you actually own. Keep only the items that will fit in the space.

Select Proper Storage Solutions

Often people will purchase an organizing solution because it’s looks functional or it’s cute. Then, before long the unused organizing solutions are piling up as part of the clutter.  Organizng is a process and organizing solutions should be purchased AFTER you have sorted, categorized and purged your space. You don’t know what you need to organize the space, until you know what you have in your space. If you go through this process your stuff will tell you what it needs in terms of storage.

Learn New Skills

Not everyone is born to organize. Getting organized is not an innate skill for a lot of people. The good news is that it’s just a skill that many can learn. Organizers call it “skill transference” and we teach clients to organize on a regular basis. If you still struggle, then consider a maintenance plan with your local organizer.

Make a Lifestyle Change

Sometimes getting organized is about making lifestyle changes. There are many people who are just not used to putting their items away; who were never taught how to organize or clean. We see this a lot with young adults who get their first apartment and have a sudden interest in keeping it neat and organized. Changing or creating new habits and can take some time and practice, but well worth the effort.

Buy Less Stuff

You can’t organize yourself out of too much stuff. This is the number one reason many people struggle with clutter. Things keep coming in the door with very little going out. Before you know it, everything is full and spilling over to the counters and floors. Receiving 1 or 2 Amazon packages per day and shopping in bulk may be convenient and satisfying, but not necessarily healthy for you, your family or the environment.

Set Realistic Expectations

No one is going to be clutter free all the time. I often equate clutter to laundry. Unless the entire family strips naked on laundry day, there’s always going to be some laundry that needs washed. For things to get things done, we have to use our stuff. Much like life and laundry, clutter is a cycle. We take our stuff out and use it, then…when we are done, we put it away, or it becomes clutter. By putting our stuff away, we are closing the loop. That cycle will always repeat, so having systems in place to simplify closing the loop is a key to managing the cycle.

Managing the clutter in our lives is an ongoing process and not a one-time event. It’s the little things that we do on a daily and regular basis that help keep us organized. And remember, we are always a click or a phone call away, if the load is too heavy!

Darla Pompilio

Your Tasks Our Time, Organizing Service

www.yourtasksourtime.com

610.847.5422

The post How to Keep Clutter Away for Good appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

Make sure your organizing systems fit the life that you are living now; not the life you used to live and not the life you plan on living in the future. Using the same organizing systems you had in college to manage your home is most likely not going to work. The rule of thumb is that you always want to focus on function first followed by aesthetics.

Sort by Categories or How You Use an Item

The truth is that organizing is basically a sorting process. Sort items by categories (like with like) and/or by how you use them.  Items that are used together should be stored together.  For example, if you are wrapping a present, you don’t want to have to go to one room for scissors, another for tape and yet another for wrapping paper.

Use the Right Tools

Containerize, containerize, containerize where possible and feasible.  A Proper container allows you to keep track of items, store them easier and makes things easier to use.

Purge Regularly

We are constantly bombarded with items coming into our homes and paper is the worst.  There’s mail, the kids school papers, work papers and the list never ends.  Consistent purging is one of the keys to staying organized.

Ask for Help

You don’t have to do everything yourself. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it.  Delegate tasks or hire people to do the work your not good at or don’t want to do.

Evaluate Frequently and Honestly

The one constant in life is change.  Be flexible, life is always evolving and your systems will need to evolve as your life changes.

By: Darla Pompilo

Your Tasks – Our Time, Inc

The post Strategies to Simplify Your Life appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

At YTOT we believe it depends on the individual. It boils down to how you want to live your life? What belongings, what information and which activities are going to serve you? There is a quote by Bill Jenson that we find true “The paradox of simplicity is that making things simple is hard work”. Choosing what to include AND exclude in our lives is a process that takes time and a great deal of effort.

How do you get started? There is a difference between organizing and simplifying and a good place to start is with the physical stuff that surrounds you.

Organizing is a tool that’s used to simplify. Organizing is about finding homes for your stuff and being able to find what you need, when you need it. Finding a home for all your items can have a huge impact on your life. This effect can transform your life.

Simplifying is more about determining what is really going to serve you. Are you going to read or re-read the 300 books you have on your bookcases? Do you value all decorative objects on the flat surfaces of your home? Do you wear the 30 pairs of jeans in your closet? In short, how do you want to live and how much time do you want to devote to your stuff?

The post Organize or Simplify appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.