Unofficial Benefits to Being Organized

Whether you are a neat and tidy person or more of a free spirit, there are benefits to being organized. Educated as an engineer, I know I don’t know anything about the medical field. What I do know is how getting organized has health benefits. All of the busy people we have worked with have reported the following benefit of getting their homes and offices organized:

More Energy

Having clutter drains energy.  Stagnant energy builds up around clutter and causes tiredness and lethargy.

Improved Health

People with limited clutter look and feel better.  They are typically more active and have a fresh face.  Clutter congests your home and your body.

Reduced Depression

Stagnant energy surrounding clutter pulls you down.  Feelings of hopelessness can be relieved by clearing the clutter.  Clearing the clutter allows you to make room for something new and fresh.

When you are organized:
You’ll be able to relax more
You’ll have more time for yourself
You’ll have more time for your loved ones
You’ll feel good about your environment
You’ll be an even better role model
You’ll be healthier, as well as your family
You’ll breathe better
You’ll do better professionally
You’ll save more
You’ll achieve more

Organizing is a process, not a destination.  Top Shelf Home Organizing can help you on your journey. Let’s chat about how Top Shelf Home Organizing can help you feel the benefits of getting organized.

Simple. Life. Solutions.

We would love to put our talents to use making your home and office functional and organized. Let us know how we can help your space be the best it can be.

Meet Our Organizers

JAYME RADOMSKI

Owner and Organizer

Jayme has a passion for developing efficiencies, systems and organization for busy people. As a child, organizing toys and craft items was fun. As the neighborhood babysitter, families always came home to nicely organized kids’ spaces and rooms. Jayme looks forward to making an enormous change in your home, office and life. She has degrees in engineering and business management. Attention to detail and passion for helping others led to leadership roles in Jayme’s engineering career. In the past she designed commercial fire suppression systems, and spent years in retail and restaurant industries while in college.

JACKIE L.

Organizer

Jackie is the ultimate organizer for busy families. As a mom of four active children, she knows the importance of keeping a busy family organized. Jackie understands the functionality of kitchens, she knows and understands all the kids toys, and is a whiz at closets, basements and garages. You will love to see Jackie’s wisdom and talent in action. 

SUSAN K.

Organizer

Susan made her way into professional organizing after many years as an IT Project Manager. She enjoys helping clients streamline their home and work spaces so they can spend time on the things that matter most to them. For Susan, it’s collaborating with clients to identify their needs, and then devise and execute organization projects. Nothing beats seeing the “after” of a space that was previously a source of client discomfort and distraction! Susan is a champ at making decisions and keeping projects moving forward.

Simple. Life. Solutions.

We would love to put our talents to use making your home and office functional and organized. Let us know how we can help your space be the best it can be.

Organizing Paperwork

Are you stressed by unmanaged paperwork around your home and office? Searching for important documents may seem hopeless. Interest charges and late fees can pile up quickly on misplaced bills.  Deadlines are easily overlooked. Getting on top of your papers and developing a good paper management system will reduce stress. Here are some tips on how to get your paperwork organized, and regain control of your home and office.

Convenient Location

Where you manage your paperwork should be convenient. Going to a secluded area of your home may not encourage you to manage your paperwork. If it is not an area you enjoy being in, you won’t go there. 

The workspace should have ample surface area, basic office supplies (envelopes, pens, address labels), computer and printer, paper recycle bin and shredder.

Remove the
unnecessary, immediately

Sort your mail as soon as it comes in, with a recycle bin and shredder within an arm’s reach. Junk mail should be recycled immediately. Refer to a document retention guideline for guidance on what documents to keep and for how long.

Initial sorting

Create a temporary, simple filing system for the initial sorting of your paperwork. This file system could include files labeled:

File – for files to be filed

Pay – for bills to be paid

To Do – for items that require attention within the next month

Read – for documents that will required your dedicated attention

Regularly go through and pay, sort and file

Set up a weekly time to go through the temporary files. Coordinate your bill paying with your pay dates. File papers from the ‘File’ file. Review your ‘To Do’ file for items needing attention within the next week. Take some time to read through the files from your ‘Read’ file. 

It is important to always be aware of what papers, documents and receipts enter your home. Receipts can be sent via email or not retained at all. Be selective of what documents are collected at trade shows, conventions and seminars. Only accept the documents that are relevant to you. Be mindful of the mailing lists, marketing emails and promotional lists you sign up for. 

Once your paperwork system is set up, plan to set aside time every week to maintain and manage your paperwork. Staying on top of your system will reduce stress and ensure you keep on top of your work and bills.

If setting up a paperwork management system is overwhelming, a professional organizer can help you started or guide you through the entire process. Top Shelf Home Organizing takes pride in working with people to organize and streamline their paperwork. Reach out to Jayme if you are ready to get your paperwork organized.

6 Free Ways to Start the New Year Organized

The new year brings a desire to clear out the old, bring in the new, focus on goals and be more productive. Making a clean sweep through your life and home will help you focus on all your new year goals and plans. Top Shelf Home Organizing has created a list of simple organizing projects to start the new year that will not cost you anything.

1. One In – One Out

The new year brings a desire to clear out the old, bring in the new, focus on goals and be more productive. Making a clean sweep through your life and home will help you focus on all your new year goals and plans. Top Shelf Home Organizing has created a list of simple organizing projects to start the new year that will not cost you anything.

2. Cleaning Schedule

After weeks of celebrating and entertaining, your home likely needs a good cleaning. Set up a cleaning schedule that allows areas of your home to be cleaned regularly. Involve family members in the plan to share the workload. Keep cleaning supplies in a central location so everyone knows where to find them and you know when they are running low.

3. Wardrobe Refresh

Assess your wardrobe and remove clothing items that do not fit, are worn out or do not make you feel fabulous. Reducing your clothing to what you love will lift your spirits and make mornings easy. Clothing items can be donated or sold.

4. Pantry

A good pantry assessment will help plan meals and save money in the new year. Remove all items from the pantry, organize them by food type and plan your meals based on the food you have. Organizing your pantry will get you started on your healthy eating and money saving resolutions.

5. Take a Break from Buying

This month, as you plan for the new year and go through your stuff, don’t buy anything. As you remove items don’t rush out to purchase a replacement, take time to be without. You will be surprised how much less you can live with. Getting organized in the new year also does not mean that you need to spend on organizing gadgets. Reuse organizing items you currently have, or use boxes and containers from around your home. After you have fine-tuned your organizing system, then consider purchasing new storage products.

6. Don’t Ignore Your Feelings

Your home is where you rest and rejuvenate. Items in your home that cause sadness, stress and anxiety don’t belong. Consider keepsakes that bring bad memories all the way to items in disrepair that strike anxiety every time you think of them. As you clean and organize throughout your home, remove these items as they come up. The bad feelings need to go.

This list is enough to get you off to a great start this year. Decluttering is a process and cannot be done in one hour or one day. Start with areas with the biggest impact and start the snowball rolling. After years of working with busy families, we know where to focus. When organizing and decluttering overwhelms you, we are happy to help. Reach out to Jayme at Top Shelf Home Organizing to get you started on the right track.

How to Know What to Keep, Donate and Toss

Deciding what to keep, donate, and toss through your organizing journey can help relieve the pressure of organizing. Identifying these three categories will depend on your personal needs and the time of your life. Your reason to get organized may be to keep your busy family functioning efficiently, to prepare to downsize and simplify your household or free up some space for the things you love. Everyone has a different “why” for their organizing journey.

Have a plan before beginning this process! Take an informal inventory of everything you have in your home. This inventory can be done with a simple pen, a legal pad of paper, and a walk-through of your home. Write down general categories of everything. While taking this informal inventory, make a preliminary note of where each item might go. You can also take note of what categories to start with. As this plan evolves, remember the goal is keeping what is really important and what you really love.

Top Shelf has prepared a guide to help you think through what to keep, donate, and toss.

The Keepers

Needs
The easy part of deciding what to keep is identifying what you need. These items are needed for daily life and are simple and basic. If you were to move into a camper or very small house, what items would you need to live? Basic cooking tools, a simple assortment of dishes, clothes, towels, and some toiletries are examples of items that are needed. In a larger family, there will be additional items that each family member needs to live and function.

Wants
Going beyond needs, there will be many other categories of items you would keep. The categories go on and on. We will touch on a sampling of these items such as heirlooms and memories, toys, household items, clothing, personal care, and hobbies. Wants is where we have balance practicality and excess. Your home is full of useful items, but if there are not being used, they are not useful to you at all.

Heirlooms and Memories

Heirlooms and memories are important to carry on your family legacy. These items should be just that, your legacy. Heirlooms and memories that have the strongest, happiest memories are what represent you. Items that do not represent your legacy and do not have the best memories can move into the donate or toss category. You might come across love letters, trophies and medals, a wedding dress, artwork, schoolwork, photos, and more photos. A sampling of these items that represent you and what you want others to remember is important.

You certainly would not want to burden your family with an excess of items that do not reveal your legacy or bring on sad and hurtful memories. For example, a medal from a marathon you actually didn’t complete, participation trophies, your 3rd-grade spelling test, love letters from an abusive partner, and repeat photos of the same event are items that don’t represent your legacy. Instead consider keeping your diplomas, a piece or two of artwork, taking photos of important trophies and metals, keeping important metals (military metals), and a love letter from your current spouse. Admittedly, heirlooms and memories are a tough category, but one that certainly needs to be addressed and organized.

Toys

Toys the children still engage in will remain on the keep list. Toys that no longer keep kids engaged or are damaged, might belong on another list. Saving toys for grandkids, and nieces and nephews may become a burden as toy safety is ever-changing. The size of the toys is another consideration. If it does not pack away nicely, the toy may not be worth saving.

Household Items

There are items that fall into the need category, but excess may need to move to the donate category. Think about items like dishes, linens, towels, makeup, self-care products, sporting goods, shoes, décor, etc. These are the areas you will want to think about how much of each item is reasonable to keep.

After you have determined what items are an absolute need, you can then determine a reasonable amount of wants in this category. This topic has been discussed over and over in the professional organizing world. This category ranges from the linen closet to the kitchen, to the china cabinet.

Make an informal list of all the categories within household items and place a quantity on a reasonable amount of each item you would like to keep. For example, you may want to keep two bath towels for each person in your household plus an additional four just for guests. Any excess towels are great candidates for donating to a charity that can utilize them. You may only need two or three pots of different sizes in your kitchen. Wine glasses may be reduced if you do not host large parties anymore.

Clothing

Clothing is a topic all on its own. We spend a lot of time and money on the purchase of clothing which makes it difficult to part with. Clothing that is worn and stained are candidates for textile recycling where the material itself is used to create new products. Clothing that does not fit, flatter, or function can be donated to a charity looking for clothing. Saving clothing of a previous size or two may cause you to stress trying to be a size you were in a different season of life. Love what you wear now, and reward yourself with something new when weight and fitness goals are reached. Be ruthless in this department. If you do not truly enjoy wearing an item, it is time to pass it on to someone who needs it.

Personal Care

Personal care items can quickly accumulate, especially if they are not organized and inventoried regularly. Once you gather and categorize the items, toss anything that is old, expired, and open, and not wanted. Unopened items that are not wanted can be donated to local shelters. Take note of what you have remaining.

Have a central storage location for these items for better inventorying. Understanding what you have will reduce over purchasing of these items. Additional information on organizing these items can be found in Simplify and Organize Your Linen Closet.

Hobbies

We have hobbies that we once enjoyed, hobbies we currently enjoy, and hobbies we aspire to pursue. All these hobbies require supplies and equipment. Focus on just keeping supplies for the hobby you are currently into and have time for and hobbies that are likely on hold. The supplies and equipment for past hobbies and aspirational hobbies might have a better life with someone else who has the time for them. They make great donations for resale.

Off to Donation

Donating items can be a simple as dropping off all items at a donation center, or you can carefully select what charity will put each item to its best use. Be realistic about how much time you spend deciding on what goes where. The goal is to put your useful stuff back in use by someone who needs it. Donation centers can be overwhelmed with items so be mindful of what you send their way.

What to Donate

Donate items that are in usable condition. Items that are missing parts, broken, stained, or torn can be recycled or sent to a landfill. Donation centers typically do not take electronics, certain baby items, mattresses, or furniture. Expired items should bypass donation and go right to the landfill.

Where to Donate

Different organizations need different items. If time allows, you can send different items to different organizations. For example, animal shelters can use linens and towels, hospitals can use clothing for patients to wear home when their clothing has been destroyed or is needed as evidence, shelters need toiletry products, and food pantries will take unperishable food that is not expired. This Donation Guideline published by Goodwill Industries is a great resource for general donation information.

Off to the Recycling Center or Landfill

When items are no longer useful or functional, they can be recycled or disposed of. The local refuse and recycling service publish what items can be picked up for curbside recycling and disposal. Understand what can be recycled through this service in your area. Additional items can often time be picked up for recycling for an additional fee. Other items may need to be brought to a specific recycling center. These items can include textiles and clothing, plastic gardening pots, plastic shopping bags, motor oil, and wood.

There are items such as oil-based paints, batteries, and hazardous materials that will need to be brought to a household hazardous waste drop off-center. Learning your municipality’s rules will help make decisions on what items can go where.

Have a Plan

There is no doubt going through personal and family items is emotional, exhausting, and can feel endless. A strategic plan to tackle this daunting task will help keep you on task. Start with easy items such as food and toiletries. Making some simple progress, in the beginning, will feel good and motivate you to keep going. It is not about getting rid of everything. It is about keeping what is really important.

Top Shelf Home Organizing has helped dozens of households simplify, reduce, and get organized. If this process is overwhelming to you, we can help. Contact Jayme to see how Top Shelf Home Organizing can help you.