Organize your Teenager Once and for All!?

Organizing and teens usually do not appear in the same sentence.  In fact, most teens dread being asked to do anything by a parent, especially if it resembles a chore!

These simple tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan will help your teen get and stay organized:

1.      Start with a home tour.  Make sure your teens know where household supplies/items are kept.  They can’t put them away if they don’t know where they go.  This is especially true for cleaning and office supplies.

2.      Use calendars to keep track of activities and schedules.  A family calendar kept in a kitchen is a great place for everyone to coordinate their schedules.  Using a different colored highlighter for each member makes it easy for all to see.  A teen might also want their own calendar/planner to keep in their room.

3.      Create specific areas for teens.  Most teens are involved in sports or other activities where they need to keep their gear.  Having a shelf in a garage or laundry room dedicated to those activities will make it easier for things to be put away and not plopped at the doorstep.

4.      Update their bedrooms.  By this, I mean help teens pack away things they have outgrown.  Special things can be stored in bins.  Clothes can be donated or taken to resale shops.  Let teens have a say in the way their rooms are decorated or arranged.  It might just make them keep it tidy.

Organizing your teen is easier than you think! 

For more organizing tips, visit www.NapoMichigan.com.

Article submitted by Chapter member, Susan Carmody, www.perfectlyplaced.net.

Choosing and Using a Calendar

Calendars are the most basic and widely-used tool of time management.

Calendars link events and actions to a particular date and time.

Calendars also serve as a record of the past. 

Endless variations exist. Choosing one can be daunting: a traditional paper wall calendar or desk planner? An erasable whiteboard? A computer-based solution?


 

Before deciding, make a wish list.

 

Consider:

▪   Context:

 

Will you be using the calendar in one location?

Or do you need something portable?

▪   Complexity:

 

How many events are you scheduling each day?

How many people need to refer to it?

▪   Control:

 

Will you be the only one adding, revising, and deleting events?

Or do others need to contribute to it?

▪   Aesthetics:

 

Do you want your calendar to delight or inspire?

Do you want to frame time by the day, the week, or the month?

Winnowing through the options becomes a much saner task when you know which features are essential. Try different designs and types to learn which features support you and which get in your way. Keep in mind that a style that works well for one phase in life may not function at all when your needs shift.

An unused calendar is just a piece of clutter.

 

People who use a calendar effectively:

▪   Consult it before making appointments (to avoid double-booking)

▪   Record every appointment (if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen), and

▪   Refer to it frequently (at least twice a day: in the morning so that you keep your commitments; in the evening so that you’re prepared for tomorrow).

Caution: use only one calendar at a time. Multiple calendars generate chaos!!

For more organizing tips, visit www.napomichigan.com.

Article submitted by Chapter member Melanie Sobocinski, owner of

Prof Organizer LLC.