by Jayme Radomski | Apr 3, 2023 | Clutter, Organizing
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:
Having clutter drains energy. Stagnant energy builds up around clutter and causes tiredness and lethargy.
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.
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.
by Jayme Radomski | Mar 9, 2023 | Clutter, Organizing
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.
by Jayme Radomski | Feb 7, 2023 | Clutter, Digital, Money & Paper Management, Organizing, Work & Home Office
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.
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.
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.
by Jayme Radomski | Jan 9, 2023 | Cleaning, Organizing
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
by Jayme | Sep 21, 2022 | Digital, Organizing
When planning to organize an entire home, keepsakes and photos are typically the last category. These items are the most sentimental and slowest to organize. Photos in particular take time as they bring back memories of life’s most cherished moments. To make photo organizing manageable, break the project down into basic organizing steps.
1. Gather
Gather all photos together into a work area that can be dedicated to photo organizing for a long period of time. For digital photos, keep a notebook record of all the devices, websites, disks, drives, and apps you have photos stored to. Digital photos will be gathered in the organizing step.
2. Sort
Sort photos by date. When dealing with a large quantity of photos, you may want to sort by decade to start. Each decade can then be sorted further into years and then months. If you prefer to keep photos organized by events or holidays, you will still want to keep them chronological, but consider adding extra labels to the organizing to flag these events. For digital photos this should be relatively easy as they can be sorted by the date the photo was taken or stored.
The challenge of sorting digital photos is the multiple locations they are stored. Refer to your notes on where you have photos stored and sort photos one location at a time. Physical photos will take some time. Have some photo boxes, shoe boxes, or small bins on hand for sorting.
3. Purge
Choosing which photos to purge will be challenging. Some people will keep just good photos that represent events. Most people will take time to closely look at each photo and may not want to reduce any. The easiest photos to get rid of are duplicate photos. You may also consider reducing photos that are poor quality or blurry. With digital photos, it is easy to take many photos of the same pose. Try your best to select one or two of the best photos to keep.
4. Organize
Organize photos in a way they can be viewed the easiest. For physical photos, they should be neatly organized chronologically with tabs to note dates (years and months) and events. Photo boxes or bins work well for physical organization.
Digital photos should be stored in a common place, chronologically. Consider cloud-based storage for a central location for all digital photos. Understand this will take time to move files from all locations into a central location. You may also consider digitizing your physical photos and storing with the digital photos. Back up your photos to an external hard drive or other non-cloud-based storage method.
Break the Project Down
Organizing photos is not a weekend organizing project. It is a process that will take months or years to complete. Breaking the project down into small pieces will make it easier and more enjoyable. Keep your eye on the goal of having all your photos organized, easy to retrieve, and easy to share with others.
by Jayme | Mar 8, 2022 | Cleaning, Organizing
These quick organizing tips will get you and your house ready for the first warm spring day. Block your calendar this month to prepare your home for spring. Take it one task at a time and soon you’ll be ready for your first backyard barbecue.
1. Winter Décor
Let spring in your home by packing away your winter décor. Add some fresh flowers and bright colored pillows to your home.
2. Patio Furniture
Take patio furniture out of storage and give it a good wash down.
3. Entry Doors
Wash down the inside and outside of all entry doors and storm doors. Remove dust and webs from entryways. The sun will shine nicely through the fresh glass.
4. Coat Closet
Organize your coat closet by removing any coats not worn in the past year, laundering the coats, and hanging them the same way.
5. Back Entryway
Remove all items from the back entryway. Wipe down the walls, the baseboards, and give the floor a good scrub. Pack away winter items and bring out the spring jackets, shoes, and umbrellas.
6. Winter Outerwear
Wash and dry or dry clean all winter outerwear before packing it away. Pack winter wear loosely in bins or hang garment bags on clean coats to keep them fresh for the next season.
7. Windows
Wash your windows inside and out. Wipe webs and dust from window frames, and vacuum dust from sills. The clean windows will brighten up your space on warm spring days.
8. Grill
Pull out your grill and give it a good cleaning. Scrub down the grates, degrease the base, and polish the stainless. Check the level in the propane tank so you are ready to grill some burgers.
9. Vehicle
A warm, dry day is a great time to clean the salt and dirt on the inside and outside of your car. It is such a good feeling to have a clean car on a warm spring day.
Top Shelf Home Organizing loves to help busy families transition to the new season. We would love to chat with you about creating a plan to get your home ready for spring. Give Jayme a call.
