Setting Up Your Desk Area

Once they have gotten rid of piles of paper and rediscovered the tops of their desks, clients often ask me what is the best way to set up their desk areas.

Sit down at your desk and spread out your arms in all directions.  Any part of your desk that is at your fingertips is what I refer to as “prime real estate”.  Prime real estate should be reserved for those items that you use constantly.

Make a list of the major activities you do at your desk, and list the supplies that you need.  Make sure that you have all of those supplies within your prime real estate.

Keep your desktop free of anything that doesn’t need to be there.  Photographs should be put on shelves or a credenza, not on the desk itself.  Ditto with whimsical items, knick knacks, or souvenirs.

If there are papers that you access frequently, set up a vertical file folder on top of your desk.

If you do writing or bill paying at your desk, then you need a pen and pencil jar.   Resist the urge to put EVERY writing implement you own into it.  Instead, just add one or two of each type of implement you actually use, and keep the rest of them in your desk. 

Do you open mail at your desk?  If so, then add a letter opener to your pen jar.  I also suggest you stand up a scissors in your pen jar so that you always have one handy. 

If you create mail at your desk, you’ll need a place for stamps, envelopes, and return address labels.  Keep these in the top drawer of your desk, or in a vertical file folder.

Put a small pad of paper on your desk for jotting down quick notes or phone messages.  If you prefer Post-its®, consider a pop-up note dispenser.  Keep the refills inside the desk.

Do you use tape, staples, or paper clips every time you sit at your desk?  If so, then arrange the tape dispenser, stapler, and a small paper clip holder in a neat row along the back of your desk so that they are easy to reach but not in the way.  If you don’t use them frequently, then put them in the top drawer of your desk.

Any frequently used item that is too bulky or too unattractive to live on your desk (or too personal, such as your checkbook) should be in the most easily reached drawers of your desk.  Items that aren’t used frequently can be stored in the areas that you can’t reach without standing up or walking.

Electronics Recycling Days in November

If you’ve got electronics that you are ready to dispose of, you’ll want to know about two recycling events taking place in November.  All e-waste collected will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner in the U.S. 

On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, from 11 am -7 pm, come to the Church of the Heavenly Rest (90th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan).  This event is sponsored by Carnegie Hill Neighbors.  For more information, call (212) 996-5520.

If a weekday isn’t convenient for you, then here’s a weekend option.

On Sunday, November 22, 2009, from 8am -  3pm, come to Isaacs/Holmes Parking Lot (93rd Street and First Avenue on the East side of First).  Sponsored by Gracie Point Community Council and Upper Green Side.  For more information call (212) 759-6895.

At both events, accepted items include:

• cell phones
• computers and laptops
• copiers and fax machines
• digital cameras
• iPods and PDAs
• monitors, keyboards, and mice
• printers and modems
• stereos, radio equipment, and speakers
• telephones and telephone equipment
• televisions, VCRs, and DVD players
• typewriters.

Take advantage of this great opportunity to rid yourself of clutter!

Disposing of Household Sharps

Last week, I told you the best way to dispose of unwanted or expired medication.  This week, I’d like to give you information on the best way to dispose of Household Sharps.

Sharps, Inc.  explains, “Sharps is the term used to describe any item that is capable of puncturing the skin such as syringes, needles, lancets, broken glass with blood on it, scalpels, etc.  Because these ’sharps’ potentially have disease-carrying blood or other potentially infectious materials on them, they are capable of ‘injecting’ that blood or fluid into anyone who comes in contact with them.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation adds, “The best way to protect trash handlers and sewage treatment workers against disease or injury and avoid attracting drug abusers looking for syringes to reuse is to follow these guidelines for containment and disposal of sharps.”

New York State has produced a publication called “How to Safely Dispose of Household Sharps”, which you can download here.

To contain the sharps safely at home:

• You can purchase a sharps container at a drug store or from the company who provides your injectable medicine.
• Alternatively, use a puncture-proof plastic container with a tight-fitting screw top, such as a plastic soda bottle or bleach bottle.  Don’t use glass because it can break.  (Coffee cans are not recommended because the plastic lids come off too easily.)
• Label the container by writing “Contains Sharps” with a waterproof marker directly on the container or on masking tape on the container.
• Once you have used a syringe or lancet, immediately put it into your container and screw on the top.  Don’t clip, bend or recap the needles because you could injure yourself.
  Keep the container away from children.
• When the container is full, screw on the cap tightly. Seal it with heavy-duty tape to be extra safe.
• Bring it to any hospital or nursing home in New York State.  Call first to find out specifically when and where you can bring used sharps.

To find a location near you, go this site and click on the name of your county. 

Sharps, Inc. also offers the Sharps Disposal by Mail System® , which includes a sharps container in a choice of sizes along with postage prepaid return shipping.

An important thing to remember is: do not put sharps containers out with the recyclable plastics.  Sharps are not recyclable.

Disposing of Old Medications

What is the proper way to dispose of unwanted or expired medications, either prescription or over the counter?

Although common wisdom has been to flush them down the toilet, it is now considered hazardous to our oceans and to ocean wildlife to do so.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is now advising that we dispose of them along with the rest of our household trash, but taking these precautions to prevent avoid accidental or intentional misuse:

• Mix your unwanted medications — liquids and pills – in a sealable bag, box, or plastic tub.
• Add water to further dilute or dissolve them.
• Add an undesirable substance such as ashes, dirt, cat litter, or coffee grounds.

To learn more about the DEC’s recommendations, see http://www.dontflushyourdrugs.net/.

To see a video demonstration, go to http://www.smarxtdisposal.net/.   (The video recommends crushing the pills as well).

You might also ask your local pharmacy if they have a take-back program.

Schedule a Meeting with Doodle®

Have you ever tried to schedule a meeting with a group of people?  It can take a lot of e-mails or phone calls to see a consensus forming, and then one person’s response can scuttle the whole endeavor and send you back to square one.  Here’s a better alternative.

Doodle® is a free website that enables you to set up possible dates and times for an event and then send it to a list of e-mail addresses.  Each of your attendees goes to your poll and indicates his or availability for the time slots you listed.   Check back a day or two later, and you’ll be able to see everyone’s availability laid out in one place.  Invitees can also add comments.  If you like, you can have Doodle e-mail you each time somebody answers the poll.

You can also use Doodle® to take polls on other things besides schedules.  Use it to decide on a movie, take a vote on a question, or select toppings for pizza!

Try it out and see how easy it is.

Cold Weather Transition

The New York City weather has been confusing lately – 50’s one day, 70’s the next – but have no doubt, it will be cold before you know it.  Although we would like to continue going out in shirtsleeves, those days are numbered.

Get Your Winter Gear Ready

Now is the time to remind yourself what your winter outerwear looks like!  Did you clean your winter coat at the end of the season?  If not, take care of that now.  Make any necessary repairs, such as reattaching buttons or fixing torn pockets.

Gather up all of your hats, gloves, and scarves.  Make sure that every family member has at least one pair of matching gloves or mittens, and discard any singletons.  Check the knits to make sure there are no moth holes – if so, repair or discard.  Launder everything now before that first cold snap sneaks up on us.

If you’ve got kids, have them try on all of their coats and jackets to make sure the sleeves are still long enough.  If they’ve outgrown something, pass it on to your younger children or bag it up for donation.

Dig out your sweaters, turtlenecks, and winter pants, and put them through the moth check mentioned above.  Give a hearty “welcome back” to all these clothes that you haven’t seen in six months or more, and pull out your favorites.  Then look at the rest of them.  If they are not your favorites, do you still want to devote precious closet and drawer space to them for another year?  Or are you ready to get rid of them to make way for some new favorites?

Say Goodbye to Your Summer Gear

You’ll be ignoring your shorts and bathing suits for the next eight months or so.  While the summer is still fresh in your mind, review  your clothes and identify anything you didn’t wear all season.  Add those to the charity donation bag. 

If anything is stained, take care of that now, as it will be much harder to remove those stains later. 

Don’t forget to stock up on hot chocolate!

You’ll Flip Over These Lids!

For the last few months, I have been trying out Rubbermaid’s new storage containers with the Easy Find Lids™, and I must admit – I’m hooked!

Although I’ve always been a fan of Rubbermaid products, these new containers seem custom-made for us New Yorkers with our limited cabinet space.

Here is what I love about these products:

They nest inside each other.  Stacking up four containers takes not much more room than one.

They snap to their lids, and the lids snap to each other.  You can snap the lids onto the bottom of the containers.  No more searching for lids!

They are beautifully transparent.  You can see right away what is stored in them, taking away all the guesswork.

There are different types to suit your different storage needs.   In addition to the basic Easy Find Lids containers for general use (pictured), there are three others:

Produce Saver™ keeps fruits and vegetables fresher and crisper due to a vented lid and a slotted tray that sits at the bottom of the container.  I emptied my bag of baby carrots into one of these, and every time I open the refrigerator, I have a healthy snack staring me in the face.

Lock-Its™ features four locking tabs for an extra secure lid seal.  This is great for storing soups, stews, and other heavy contents, as well as for anything you take on the go, as we New Yorkers are known to do.

Premier™ are stain and odor resistant.  Use these for tomato sauce and other staining foods.  I love that the Premier lids are transparent, further removing the guesswork of storing leftovers and such.

You can mix and match the containers and the lids.   Despite the four different types, any of the lids will fit any container of that size.  That appeals to us New Yorkers for don’t have the room to store specialized items.

Find out more about Easy Find Lids™ at this helpful website.

Try them and let me know what you think.

Stop Running Out

Do you find yourself making urgent trips to the store because you’ve run out of an important item?  Or worse yet, having to manage without something because you can’t get to the store?

By planning ahead, you can be sure to always have what you need when you need it.

Let’s divide the world of important commodities into two categories: those products that consist of one item that takes a while to use up (such as a printer cartridge or a box of cereal), and those that consist of multiple items (such as a bottle of aspirin, or a package of toilet paper).

Single Item Packages

It may take months to use up your printer cartridge, but when it runs out, you’re in big trouble.  (And it’s always the night before a big presentation, isn’t it?)  Solve this dilemma by always having an extra one on hand.  When you put a new cartridge in your printer, go the store and buy another one.  If you do that every time, you’ll never run out.

This technique also works with products that get used up much faster, such as cereal.  There should always be an extra box of cereal in your pantry.  Don’t wait until they are both used up to put it on the shopping list.  Add it to the list as soon as you’ve finished one.  Until you go to the store, you’re still able to have your complete breakfast because of your backup box.  Do this with other frequent-use items such as milk and orange juice.

Multiple Item Packages

Don’t wait until you’ve taken the last aspirin to think about buying a new bottle.  Instead, when you first open it, take 10 aspirins out of the bottle, put them in the old aspirin bottle, and stick it in the back of the cabinet.  When your new bottle is empty, you’ve actually still got 10 aspirins left.  That’s your cue to buy another bottle next time you are at the drugstore.

Try this with toilet paper and paper towels as well.  Separate the last roll from the rest of the package.  When the package is empty, you’ve still got one left, leaving you time to get a new one from the store before you run out completely.

Try these techniques out and let me know how they work for you.

Preparing for Disaster

Did you know that September is National Preparedness Month? The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Citizen Corps have sponsored this event for the last six years to encourage Americans to prepare for all kinds of emergencies.

What do you need to do in order to be prepared?

1. Create an emergency kit.
2. Develop a communications plan.

If an emergency occurs, you may have to evacuate, or you may have to shelter in place (i.e., ride out the emergency in your home.)

Evacuate

Have a GO Bag prepared in case you are advised by officials to evacuate. Twice a year, when you change your clock for daylight savings time, check expiration dates of the items in your kit. Your GO Bag should contain the following items:

• Radio – either battery-powered with extra batteries, or a hand-crank radio
• Flashlight and extra batteries (or hand crank flashlight)
• Whistle to signal for help
• NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Cash in small denominations
• Copies of your important documents (insurance cards, photo IDs, proof of address, etc.) in a waterproof and portable container
• Extra set of house and car keys
• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• A list of the medications each member of your household takes, why they take them, and their dosages. If you store extra medication in your Go Bag, be sure to refill it before it expires.
• Local map

See this helpful web page to guide you if you are instructed by officials to evacuate.

Shelter in Place

Identify a room with few doors or windows, ideally with at least ten square feet per person. Keep enough supplies in your home to shelter in place for at least three days. If possible, keep these in a separate container and make sure your family knows that these supplies are for emergencies only. In addition to the items in your GO Bag, here are the supplies that you should have on hand:

• One gallon of drinking water per person per day
• Non-perishable, ready-to-eat canned or packaged foods, and a manual can opener. Energy and granola bars, dried fruit, and peanut butter are good choices.
• Phone that does not rely on electricity
• Personal hygiene items: soap, feminine hygiene products, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc.
• Child care supplies or other special care items
• Don’t forget about extra water and food for your pet!

See this helpful web page to guide you if you are instructed by officials to shelter in place.

Communications Plan

Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance how you will contact one another and how you will get back together. Here are the elements of your plan:

• Decide where your household will reunite after a disaster. Identify two places to meet: one right outside your home and another outside your neighborhood, such as a library, community center, or place of worship.
• Designate an out-of-state friend or relative that household members can call if separated during a disaster. If local phone circuits are busy, long-distance calls may be easier to make. This out-of-state contact can help you communicate with others.
• Ensure that household members have a copy of your household disaster plan and emergency contact information to keep in their wallets and backpacks.

Very useful information – along with a downloadable form – is available on the web site of professional organizer Judith Kolberg. Here is one tip of hers that I really like:

“To avoid busy signals between two individuals, agree that one person will call on the 5’s after the hour (i.e., 9:05, 9:15, 9:25, 9:35, etc) and the other person will call on the 10’s after the hour (i.e., 9:10, 9:20, 9:30, etc). “

For More Information

Two useful web sites to consult are the Department of Homeland Security’s http://www.ready.gov and New York City’s http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem.

Back to School

Today is Labor Day, which means no matter how we try to deny it, summer is officially over! 

For many of us, the end of summer means back to school.  How can you help your kids to stay organized during the school year?

Create a bookbag niche

When your child walks in the house after school, where does he drop his bookbag or backpack?  Right in the entryway, so that everyone else who walks in the house trips over it?  In the middle of the living room, so that the room always looks cluttered?  Start off the school year by identifying a space that is specifically for your child’s bookbag. 

Institute a bookbag emptying routine

A lot of stuff goes back and forth between school and home each day.  Don’t forget to ask your child each day whether anything has been sent home for parents to see.  Once a week (Sunday nights are a good time), sit with your child to dump out her bookbag and make sure that everything comes out that is supposed to come out.  This includes any graded assignments that can now be filed away and any other stuff that doesn’t need to go back to school.

Set up a filing system for old papers

Set up a hanging file box or a looseleaf binder – separated by subject — for any schoolwork, notes, tests, etc., that your child brings home.  Keeping this up throughout the year will help greatly when he needs to study for a test or refer back to a past lesson, and it will make the end-of-school-year cleanup much easier.

Create a checklist

Simplify the morning rush by having a checklist of everything your child needs to take to school:  keys, homework, lunch, MetroCard, equipment for after-school activities, etc.  Keep this checklist near the door.  Pack as much as possible the night before, and get your child in the habit of looking at it before leaving the next morning.

For more back-to-school organizing ideas, see the cover article in last month’s issue of Time Out New York Kids, featuring advice from the Organizing Goddess® and other experts.