Labels for Life : Getting OrganizedLabels for Life will give tips for organizing your life, home and office.

Book lovers love books until it comes to a time when there are books, books, books all over the place and it becomes evident that other forces need to come into play. The book lover now needs to choose from his books. Some will stay and some will have to go.

The book lover needs to make good habits right from the start. S/He needs to think twice before s/he buys once. Only those books need to be bought that s/he absolutely positively cannot do without.

That’s what libraries are for. Libraries have reading rooms. Read as much as you can there. Bring home only the ones you will read and read right through.

Now comes the task of sorting out your books. Collect the books from all nooks and crannies of your home. Establish a place for your books. You may have a few shelves or ceiling to floor bookcases.

Arrange your books on the shelves in groups. The non-fiction can be clustered together. Certain shelves can display your bestseller collections. Once you have a designated spot for your books you will tend to return them to those spots.

These days there are many book trading sites on the net. Some of these are Bookmooch, PaperBackSwap, TitleTrader, FrugalReader etc. These become ideal for finding fresh reading and lovingly disposing of books from your collection as well.

Assign an area for the books that you borrow from the library or friends. You might want to label these “Books in Rotation”.  These books do not have a permanent spot among your collection, but still have a designated area just for them.

Periodically sort through your collection. You might want to give your books new homes. There are always hospitals, local schools, libraries, shelters etc. who take book donations. There are many bookshops that also take old books. Other places one might consider are books for soldiers (www.booksforsoldiers.com), the international book project (www.intlbookproject.org/), (www.writeaprisoner.com/books-behind-bars/). Each library posts its own wish list. So you might want to take that into consideration.

De-clutter your own living space and bring reading into other deserving lives. Such a generous thought with the holidays fast approaching.

One final thought, you may want to affix custom stickers with your personal information so books loaned out find their way home.

There are those who collect their photos in shoe boxes (time to start labeling) and albums and those who go totally digital. They use digital cameras, store and share their photos electronically. Of course, if you’ve been collecting for over 30 years or inherited some family collections, you might have a combination of photographs in albums, photo boxes and some photographs stored digitally.

Another excellent alternative to traditional albums is scrapbooks. Scrapbooking as a hobby has become the craze for women of all ages, in all walks of life, with varying levels of skills and abilities. For those not very artistically inclined, there are various how-to sites that have easy step-by-step instructions that can walk one through this seemingly monumental task and come up with very fancy scrapbooks to make for oneself or to give away as gifts. Whatever the final outcome one desires, organization of those photos is a must. Storage could be temporary or permanent, depending on the final objective in mind.

If your photographs are tucked away in envelopes and those in turn, stacked together in shoe boxes, you may want to sort them according to your preference, either by date or events. You may have, for instance, a large number of photographs of Cousin May’s wedding, or Grandma’s 80^th birthday which was in fact a family reunion of sorts and so on. These would be wonderful choices for an album or scrapbooking project.

Go through them, envelope by envelope. Weed through them, toss out photos out of focus or overexposed. Toss out those you don’t really care for and don’t serve any other purpose either. This will pare down the amount of organizing and labeling you will eventually need to do. Store these in suitable envelopes marked according to year or event.

Depending on your current level of organization you might need to get albums, photoboxes, scrapbooking material, acid-free and PVC free envelopes, acid-free photo-safe pencil or pen (available at photo processors and art-supply stores) etc.

Albums: Choose a style of album that goes with the kind of photos you would like to put in them and that go with your décor. Then get a number of them. Albums lined up six or seven of a color or style look much better than a bunch of assorted albums stashed together. Older photographs that you’ve collected or inherited should be safely stored in acid-free, archival quality environments. Albums should be stored preferably upright on shelves away from direct sunlight or humidity. The ideal temperature for albums is 65^o to 70^o F with a 50% relative humidity level.

Photo boxes: For temporary or permanent storage, choose good looking matched boxes that can be stacked on your shelves and add to your décor. Remove the photographs from their old envelopes, separate the negatives for separate storage. Put photographs in archival quality envelopes, label them according to year or event. Label the negatives appropriately and set aside. Once you have matched stacks of photographs and negatives, the photographs can go in photo boxes and the negatives can be stored in a fire-safe box. Even if you lose all your photographs, albums etc. your precious negatives will be safe.

Help turn home office hell into divine order.

First separate and categorize the paperwork. Half the chaos occurs from not physically separating personal from professional. Next categorize each pile and store in manila file folders. This helps you deal with the paperwork in small bites. It wrests the control from the paperwork mess to you. Now you decide what you’ll work on. You don’t get hijacked by the nearest sighted due bill or renewal notice.

To physically segregate use extra shelving, filing cabinets and bins.

If your desk is a virtual catchall, free it up as well for its intended purpose. Sort all papers that you need, toss out that expired notice that seemed so important at the time. Maybe it was important, you just couldn’t lay your hands on it. File all paperwork in the folders created and store in accordance with its purpose, in filing cabinet, on shelf or bin. For instance, you can house all home expenses and bills to one side and business materials and invoices on the other.

Next create a system for inflow and outflow. One option: Mount an inexpensive wire-mesh file to the left of the desk. Use it to keep track of paper flowing back and forth from the office. Use the upper slot as your Inbox. Store three manila folders labeled clearly: BILLS, Bank Statements and Filing. Toss bills, bank statements and papers to file in the appropriate file folder. The lower slot is your Outbox. Similarly tuck in outgoing mail, notes, any URGENT to do messages right there where it can be seen easily. Never leave behind anything you need to take with you to meetings, when you errands, anytime you leave your house any more! Stow right under it a portable filing box (shown in the picture next to the desk on the floor). Toss into it whatever you need to carry with you as you leave your house. Voila! no more running back to pick up things left behind or postponing chores just because all essentials are not with you to complete your errand.

Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. Are there home office paraphernalia strewn all over your abode. Corral them all right at hand near your desk. Books can be stored right on the new shelves. How-to manuals for your computer can go right there next to the books. Office supplies can be a dull lot. Inject some oomph by coordinating magazine holders, file boxes and flat boxes.

Use bulletin boards to keep track of the various areas in your life.

Things rarely used can be archived. A future blog will give detailed instructions as to how you can do this safely and securely. Children’s report cards, artwork etc. can be stored in plain sight. Use labeled boxes for these and other things like stationery, waivers, and other business paperwork. Various boxes can be neatly stacked right on the shelves providing both organization and decoration.

Supplies used on an everyday basis can go into open trays where they can be readily accessed. Another box, basket or tray can be used (such as the pink basket in the picture) to store materials for a special project.

There you have it! Order out of chaos, and pretty to boot!

Many automotive businesses can benefit from labels or decals. Also some business can market their business with automotive decals. There are so many options that you can choose from. They will increase your market or provide return customers. If you need a few ideas, keep reading and you’ll see just a few of the many things that can be done with automotive decals. After you have read these ideas you are sure to know what you want to represent your company or organization.

Vinyl Decals

Vinyl decals are a semi-permanent item that are very eye-catching and give a very professional look. These are frequently used by auto dealers to represent where the car was purchased. Many businesses can use this form of advertising. If you want to catch peoples’ eye this is a great way to do that. You can even have a logo made into the vinyl, which will help people remember you. Many people remember a logo better then a name, just a little tip.

Bumper Stickers

These are a popular and useful. Some of these are for personal beliefs or funny statements. They are also used by many non-profit organizations use them to get their name out for many to see and remember them. Businesses also use these to create repeat exposure. These can be fun and promotional all in one. You can consider getting bumper stickers printed in a variety of colors so that customers can chose a color that goes best with the color of their car, plus they will just enjoy having choices.

Oil Change

Auto shops can use oil change window stickers to remind their customers of when they need to return for their next oil change. It is a great idea to place your business name and contact information so they can call if they need to. This will remind them of your business if something else comes up where they can use your services.

Parking Permit

So many people use parking garages everyday now. By using a sort of sticker identification, you can reduce the amount of traffic backup a garage gets. These can be placed on the back of the rear view mirror or on the windshield. You can get parking permit stickers in a different color for every month so the attendant will easily know when the tag has expired and the customer needs to renew. Another good idea would be to place a number representing the year so there is no confusion as to when it was purchased. These can also be used for large apartment complexes that have a lot of tenants. They can indicate paid parking spots, or what area they are to park in.

Window Decals

These have a wide range of use. You can promote a business, a college, a sports team, or pretty much anything you want. These can be simple or more complex; what ever suits your purpose better. Window decals are also used to indicate that a car has a security system, the help prevent car theft.