When you need a Paperclip, can you find one?

If you can’t find one when you need one, it’s probably time to organize your desk.


The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips on how to organize your desk, whether it’s at home or the office.


1. First think about whether you are a person who likes things in sight, or out of sight. One good rule of thumb is to only keep within arm’s reach, those office supplies that you use on a daily basis. If you like things out, find a nice tray to put out those items on your desk. Or install a narrow shelf, 5 inches deep, above your desk so items like a stapler and tape dispenser are within reach but off the work surface of the desk.


If you like things kept out of sight, keep these items in a drawer or decorative box on whatever side you write with. People are most comfortable using their dominant hand to reach for things so place things where you can easily reach in the drawer for them.


2. For those items that were in your desk that you use less frequently, like spare printer cartridges, find a place further away from your desk, like a nearby closet, to store those items.


3. A kitchen silverware tray can make a good drawer organizer for things like smaller items like pens, pencils, staples, and paper clips. Label the side or bottom of the divided areas in the tray so everyone knows where an item goes back.


Lastly, if you find yourself having to go to your desk repeatedly to get an office supply like scissors that you use elsewhere, buy yourself an additional pair to keep where you tend to use it, whether it’s in the family room or breakroom. That way, the items in your newly-organized desk will be there the next time you need them.



Organizing your desk can be easier than you think. For more organizing tips visit http://www.napomichigan.com/. 


Article submitted by Chapter member Cindy Greenleaf.

Ideas for Sharing a Workspace

Do you share a workspace with someone? The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan has some ideas to help you organize your area.

1. Label spaces where shared desk supplies go. Use a label maker (or piece of tape and a marker) and put the label (or the tape) right on the surface or shelf where the desk supply goes, then place the objects on top of the label. Do this for all your supplies: stapler, tape, dispenser, scissors, ruler, etc.

For supplies that go inside a container (paperclips, rubber bands, tacks, pencils, pens) you may want to label the inside wall of the container.

School's Out! Six Tips for a Smooth Transition to Summer

Swing productively into summer with these tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan:

1.  Empty (and wipe) your child's lunchbox and backpack right away.  Can they be used next year, or will they need replacement?

2.  Assess your child's homework space and habits.  What's successful about the current setup?  What could use improvement?  For an amazing wealth of ideas, we recommend the book The Organized Student, written by NAPO member Donna Goldberg.

3.  Set aside time to review accumulated school papers and projects from the year. Select the best "keepers," and recycle the rest.  Photograph anything over sized or 3D. Then discard as they don’t keep well.  How much paper to hang on to?  Aim for a one inch stack or 100 sheets per academic year; that’s 13 inches or 1300 sheets of paper over the course of a K-12 academic career!  Mindy Fairbanks, of Fairbanks Solutions and Chapter member, points out that a 13 pocket accordion file is an excellent storage solution for each child’s K-12 “keepers.”   If your child wants to keep everything, try purging papers from September through January at the beginning of summer.  Handle the rest in late August, when excitement over the upcoming school year makes it easier to let go of last year's stuff.

4.  Evaluate school supplies & make a back-to-school shopping list now.  Tackle the shopping--with your child--a little at a time over the summer!

5.  Set some goals for summer bridge learning; have your child sign up for the public library's summer reading program.

6.  Establish a schedule and routine for the summer.  “With kids home and around the house for more hours of each day, the beginning of the summer is a great time for the whole family to revisit the rules of the house, and to integrate organizing principles such as ‘take it out, put it away’ into the daily routine,” said Nia Spongberg of Spruced Up Spaces LLC and Chapter member.

Helping your child manage the end of the school year is a great chance to teach organizing skills that they'll use their whole lives!

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

Article submitted by Chapter member Melanie Sobocinski, owner of Prof Organizer LLC, proforganizer.com.

Six Tips for Getting your Craft Room Craft-Worthy!

Lots of people are doing crafts these days. You never know when the urge will strike to work on a craft.


The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips to get your craft room organized so you can get right to the fun!


1. Try to set up zones in the room for the crafts you like to do. Having a dedicated spot to work and having the craft supplies handy will make it easier to be inspired and produce beautiful items.


2. Store like items together. So if you make scrapbook pages, keep all your decorative scissors in one jar or drawer. The same for having all your scrapbooking papers together so you can see what you have and what would be best for your next page.


3. If you have lots of rolls of ribbon, threading them on a paper-towel holder is a great way to wrangle the rolls. If you want the rolls to be portable, use a vertical dispenser made for sitting on the kitchen counter. If you’ve got upper cabinets, mount one horizontally from the underside of the cabinet.


4. Pringles chip cans with lids make great dust-free storage for paint brushes or knitting needles. They can be painted or covered with contact paper to match the room’s decor. Be sure to label them. They can also be stored upright or lying down so they’re very versatile.


5. Pegboard is a great way to make great use of the vertical wall space in the craft room. It can be painted after installation to blend in or stand out. They make dozens of types of inexpensive hooks and holders to have various types of small crafting items. And if you switch crafts, you can move the hooks to fit your new crafting needs.


6. Three-level pantry shelves are lightweight and perfect for storing spray paint cans so you can see the lid colors easily at a glance.

 Organizing your craft supplies can be fun. For more organizing tips visit http://www.napomichigan.com/.  


Article submitted by Chapter member Cindy Greenleaf. 

Laundry Extras

Is laundry a dreaded chore for your family? Why not try one of these simple organizing tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan to help make it little easier.

For laundry, we generally know how to handle the light and dark clothes. Our laundry system breaks down, however, when we are confronted with articles of clothing that falls outside of the typical load.

What’s Picasso’s mother to do?

Got young school age children? Every day your budding Picasso seems to bring home a fresh work of art for your enjoyment. It all can be overwhelming. After all, the front of the fridge is only so big….

The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan has a few suggestions to help keep the artwork under control:

Clutter in Your Car Driving you Crazy?

Whether you are a sales representative, soccer mom, busy college student or just a person on the go, keeping a neat and tidy vehicle can seem like a monumental task. Especially when statistics show the average American spends approximately three hours in their vehicle per day!


The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips on organizing your vehicle:


1. Keep important papers like proof of insurance, registration and maintenance logs in the glove box. Also, keep your owner’s manual there for quick reference, like when you have to change the time on the clock twice a year!

Does your kitchen resemble a “Where’s Waldo?” puzzle?

The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips on organizing your kitchen.

Instead of spending valuable time sifting through countless items you rarely use to get to that one you need, here are four ways to make your kitchen much easier to navigate.

Has Your Basement become a Home for Homelss Things?

Basements can become a place for those items that we intend to deal with later. It’s so easy to forget all the things we have down there because we don’t see them every day.


The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some ways to get your basement organized so that everything has a home.


1. Safety first. Make sure to clear the steps down to the basement of any items that are resting there. Make sure the path is clear so no one gets hurt.

Organizing your Valentine’s Day!

When you think of the month of February, romance, flowers, and chocolates come to mind. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to help you plan a memorable evening for your special valentine.

Start the New Year More Organized

“Getting organized” is a common New Year Resolution. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan offers these simple suggestions to help you get more organized this year.

1. Organize Your Wallet. First, empty the contents of your wallet, such as: credit cards, gift cards, reward cards, expired coupons, etc. Then, reevaluate what you want to keep in your wallet. For example, many stores can access your reward program account with your phone number, thus eliminating the need to carry the reward card in your wallet. Lastly, only place those items you need and use regularly back into your wallet.

Where’s the Cream Cheese?

Cleaning the refrigerator is an unpleasant task, but organizing it can be fun! The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan suggests the following to help you organize your fridge:

• Add a double level lazy susan to a shelf for the small containers that usually get lost in the back of the fridge, like yogurt or condiments.
  

Gift Giving Season

It is the gift giving time of year. These simple tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan will help your family get and stay organized as you give and receive during this season.

1. Create a central location to store gifts so that you’ll always know what you have on hand. It is okay to have 1 bin of gifts to keep in the house for special last minute gifts instead of stored around the house.

2. Keep gifts small, simple, and practical.

Television’s, and Laptops, and Smartphones! Oh, My!

The constant influx of “new” and “better” electronics has left many people feeling overwhelmed by the sheer “stuff” of it all. With that in mind, the National Association of Professional Organizers, Michigan Chapter, offers these three helpful hints.

Get Organized to Minimize Morning Madness

Getting your children up, dressed and ready for school each morning can be challenging. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some simple suggestions to help you be more prepared.

Taking Charge of Change

The process of organizing at home or at work involves changes to your life. Some changes are easier than others. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some insights so you can master the changes needed to make your life run more smoothly wherever you are.

Getting and Staying Organized with Kids

If you are a parent, you know how difficult it can be just to get your kids to school on time, let alone maintain a tidy home. However, organization is key in accomplishing all that needs to be done and enjoying the journey as a parent. These super simple tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan will help your family get and stay organized.

Five Steps to Organizing Household Papers

It’s the time you spend looking for that lost school permission slip, the unpaid bill, or the receipt you need for your income taxes that can motivate you to organize your household paperwork. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some insight on organizing household papers in five easy steps.

School Homework

Homework can be one of the toughest areas for many students. Remembering to bring homework and books home and then get it back to school is a huge process for some students. The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips to help your child organize his/her homework.

School Bags and Backpacks!

It’s time for your children to head back to school! The National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan wants to share some tips to help your child select a school bag this year.