You don’t have duplicates of the same item.

Do you have more than 2 or 3 pairs of scissors in yor home or office? How many pairs of black pants do you own? Do you really need that many washcloths? Whether its cloths, coats, books, crafts, or sports equipmant, evaluate what you need versus wht you have and dtermine if some of the extras cn be donated, sold, or given away. Less stuff offers you more space in your home, closets, and garage!

The O You Event!

The O You! Event took place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. I attended with 5 other women from my Leads Group, along with 4000 other women (and 14 men!). We had a blast and I was able to see Peter Walsh again in person, meet Rita Whack of Oprah XM Radio for the first time, and hug Gayle King, Oprah’s best friend!

What a delight that I was also able to meet Suze Orman and give her a signed copy of my book while she signed her book! She took one look at the cover and said “The 10-Minute Tidy, I will check it out!” You can read Tip 98 to see where I included Suze in my book.

And, yes, Oprah did attend the event herself! She gave a very moving closing keynote. I was impressed by her honesty, how genuine she really is and by how clear she is about her spiritual development. I am so aligned with who she is and what she is about now, more than ever! Thank you Oprah, we all benefit from your success!

Peter Walsh and Oprah XM Radio!

Peter Walsh and I had a wonderful time together on the Oprah XM Radio interview Friday October 24th. You can listen to the recording at: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahandfriends/pwalsh/20081024_oaf_pwalsh We answered questions regarding inheriting stuff from your parents and what to do with it; when to stop storing your grown children’s mementoes; and many others. Listen in and email me with your organizing questions: shannon@10minutetidy.com

Tip 63: Rotate Your Seasonal Clothes

Depending on the climate you live in, rotating your clothes in the Spring and Fall adds more storage space and more variety to your everyday wardrobe. It is pretty unlikely that you need to have access to both shorts and wool sweaters at the same time. Decide what can be put away for a few months to allow more space for the clothes you want to wear right now.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Closets, pg. 110)

Me and Elizabeth Hagen!!

Tip 39: Have Discreet Baskets or Containers for Quick Pick-up

Having extra, empty baskets that are stored discreetly hides what is in the baskets if you need to clean up in a hurry. As an added bonus, decorative baskets can serve as an attractive accent to your home! If you don’t have an area to store baskets in your living room, consider using plastic containers or collapsible laundry bins for quick storage solutions. Collapsible containers can be stored easily when not in use. It’s always a good idea to have extra storage options on hand for quick pick-ups.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Living Room, pg. 68)

Tip 72: Donate All Old or Excess Office Equipment

Unused electronics can be recycled and sometimes even refurbished and given to others. Some schools, shelters, and churches will accept electronics that are still in working order. Be sure to donate all the proper cords and any extra ink, paper, or toner that you may have for that machine. There are also businesses that will accept particular electronics. Most cell phone companies have a donation program: if you take your old cell phones to them, they will remove the previous information and donate the phones to those in need.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Office, pg. 126-127)

Tip 94: Sign Up For Automatic Bill Paying

Automatic bill paying saves you time every month, for every bill. It saves you money because you will never have to use stamps or pay a late fee again. Automatic bill paying also reduces stress because you don’t have to worry about when each individual bill is due. If you are concerned about the security of online bill paying, please know that every major financial institution uses electronic safeguards to protect the privacy and confidentiality of your information. Electronic financial transactions are typically very safe.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Finances, pg. 164-165)

Tip 19: Type Housesitting Instructions for Your Home, Family and Pets

You will probably have a baby-, house- or pet-sitter sometime during the year. If you have typed-up instructions with all the important phone numbers, addresses, and locations of specific items, you will save yourself lots of time and stress. Having a general document that you can easily edit and print out is a great timesaver.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Getting Started, pg. 31)

Tip 58: Create a Guest Supply Basket

What do you do with all those extra, travel size toiletries? As you go through each drawer, shelf and cabinet in your bathrooms, create one basket of supplies for your guests. This makes it very easy to put out the basket any time you have overnight guests. Store this basket under the sink or in a cabinet in your primary guest bathroom.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Bathrooms, pg. 100-101)

Tip 9: Set All the Clocks in Your Home to the Same Time

Take your cell phone, which is linked to the atomic time clock, and go room by room resetting all alarm and wall clocks. Also check everyone’s watches so that they are also set to the exact same time as everything else in your home. Finally, synchronize all of the clocks in each of the vehicles.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Getting Started, pg. 17)

Tip 32: Clean Out the Refrigerator and Make a Shopping List

For this 10-Minute Tidy, decide if you are going to focus on the shelves, drawers, or doors. If you take everything off the shelves, only put back what is still fresh. List whatever you may want to replace and be sure to wipe off the shelves while they are empty. Repeat this for the draws and doors of the refrigerator as well. I love keeping a magnetic note pad on the side of the fridge. This way everyone can write what he or she used up or would like to purchase.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Kitchen, pg. 53-54)

Tip 89: Organize and Label Electronic Files to Match Paper Files

Your life will be easier if your electronic files follow the same organizational structure as your filling cabinets. Open up your electronic files or “folders” and look at what the files are called in both your electric and paper versions. Are they the same or are they different? Which label is more appropriate or easier for you to remember? Rename your files or folders so that both electric and paper files match.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Papers, pg. 153)

Tip 79: Photocopy All the Important Items in Your Wallet

Take 10 minutes to photocopy all of the important items in your wallet right now. Be sure to photocopy the back and front of your driver’s license, credit cards and other identifying information. Keep the photocopies somewhere locked and safe in your home or office. Hopefully your wallet is never stolen or lost, but if it is, you will now have all of the important phone and account numbers you need in order to have the accounts closed or your cards replaced.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Office, pg. 136)

Tip 2: Create a Landing Pad

A landing pad is the place where you can come into your home and drop your stuff. This is where you always keep your purse, fanny pack or wallet. Your cell phone plugs in, your keys hung up, and your pockets get emptied all while standing in the same place. Having a designated landing pad area is very important for crating new organizing habits. It is much easier to always put your keys on a hook if you can drop all the other things that are in our hands first.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Getting Started, pg. 8)

Tip 30: Organize the Spice Jars

The Spice jars always seem to end up disorganized unless they are stored in a way that is easy to maintain. Your 10-Minute Tidy of the spice jars involves taking all the spices out from where you store them, evaluating what you have that you will actually use, and then deciding which system will best support you to keep the spice jars in order. If you are storing your spices in a way that you cannot read the label, consider re-labeling each spice jar on the lid or in a different location so that you can easily identify each one.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Kitchen, pg. 49)

Tip 4: Consolidate Your “To Do” Lists

Writing a list is a great way of keeping track of all that needs to be done. If you have various things to do, a small notebook with several sections could help you designate all the broad categories that are on your list. A mantra that I suggest is: “If it takes less than one minute, do it now.” Consider asking others to help you if you have something on your To Do list that hasn’t gotten don yet. Perhaps you could have a conversation with a friend about what your resistance is to this task.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Getting Started, Pg. 11)

Tip 56: Clean Out the Vanity Draws

The top bathroom vanity drawers are the catch-all for everyone who uses that bathroom regularly. Consider having a designated drawer for each person. I also recommend using drawer organizers as often as possible so that different lotions and potions are separated based on their use. For a child’s bathroom, use a plastic utensil holder for toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss. Te plastic holder is easy to wipe out quickly or run through the dishwasher.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly; Bathrooms pg. 98)

Tip 1: Take 10 Minutes to Visualize Your Clear, Organized Spaces

Yes, before you begin to do the physical organizing, it’s important to visualize the clean, clear organized spaces of your entire home. Start by taking a breath and releasing all of the tension in your body. In your mind’s eye, imagine the way your home will look when everything is put away and you are surrounded by clean, clear, organized spaces. You can have this! In just 10 minutes a day, you can create peace and beauty.

(10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly, Getting Started pg. 6)