Labels for LifeLabels for Life will give tips for organizing your life, home and office.

New Years Day has come and gone. Are your resolutions intact? Did you resolve to straighten out that garage? Never fear! Here are some handy organizers for that unruly garage.

Unless you’re having Closets Unlimited to the entire job, you can get great use out of the deep shelves available these days for your garage. They are available in two depths. There are even corner shelves to make the most use of those corners. The heavy duty castors are available separately.

Another handy organizer, especially for those who have a lot of small items rather that large bulky stuff to store are  filebox systems. An entire garage with assorted paraphernalia can be stored and labeled and handily accessed as the need arises. Be sure to buy labels for your boxes. These systems are very easy to put together as well.

Bike Rack

For special stuff such as golf and other sports other organizers are also available. For bikes, of course there are various systems of storage to keep them readily available and off the floor.  Handy racks are available to store a couple of huge water bottles and for the uber-organized gift-wrap organizers.

Golf club Organizer

With all such storage readily available your garage should be spruced up in no time flat!

I was trying to structure my thoughts for a blog piece. Many ideas came to me. My objective was to expand on one idea at a time per blog. However there were so many connections. It was like a glimpse into the brain itself with synapses and neurons and all connected together in a jangle of nerves. How do I sort this out? How could I chart it out before the whole exercise becomes moot?

Aha! Serendipitously, someone had already gone through this very process and encapsulated a highly intuitive and innovative way of putting it all on paper. After all half the world’s ideas were germinated over a plain cup of joe shared with a friend or colleague and scribbled on the nearest paper napkin at hand. Why there is also a mind map created for de-cluttering!

This could be a terrific tool for any organizing one chooses to do. For authors and writers there is software specially for them but if ideas should occur in the field, as it were, why not chart them out and save for future use in a file labeled ideas?

That mad, morning scramble out the door sound familiar to you. It doesn’t have to be. Monday was chosen for a reason. You have extra hours on the weekend to make sure the next morning does not have to be frenetic.

Place a tote bag Sunday night with everything that needs to go out the door the next morning.

Stock up on dresses (of course, some tips are only targeted to the female of the species) so there are fewer separates to coordinate.

Have the next day’s fully accessorized outfit complete with jewelry in Ziploc bags hanging where it’s ready to reach Monday morning.

While you’re about it why not accessorize a week’s worth of outfits as well?

Organize your closet by color as well as category so everything is easy to locate.

Keep neutral shoes, hose and bags at hand to coordinate with simply everything.

Use a charging valet available to suit every pocket and taste. Organize the PDAs and/or cell phones of the entire household. Label each spot so the respective chargers can be identified. When you come home, or your phone needs charging, that’s where it’ll go and when you need it as you leave the house, that’s where you’ll find it……charged and waiting!.

Have a hook or a coat-rack where you can hang up the clothes that need to go to the laundry; so you can grab it as you head out the door. Now that’s thinking ahead!

No more squishing silky summer shirts between winter parka and wool slacks. Wools need to breathe. We need to make more room in your closet by stashing away your cottons and summer silks.

Not a good idea to store clothes in plastic garment bags or air-tight plastic boxes. Always discard the dry-cleaner bags as soon as you get home. Plastic keeps fabrics from breathing and can discolor and rot them. Whatever moisture remains in the fiber can help mold and mildew grow. Any gases emitted from the plastic can be absorbed by the fabric serving only to accelerate the aging process.

Empty the pockets of everything you’re putting away till spring. Launder or dry-clean everything before putting them away. This ensures that stains from sweat, perfume or spilled wine do not get set in the clothes. “Stains become a food source for carpet beetles and moths,” says Jonathan Scheer, president of J. Scheer & Co., a New York textile preservationist. “These bugs will eat through the fabric to get to the food.” That’s another reason putting away starched clothes is not a good idea. Starch will feed bugs and also weaken the fabric making it more brittle and can lead to permanent stains in humid environments.

Label storage boxes and trunks with their contents. It makes it easier all around come Spring.

Line your storage closet, trunk or drawer with cedar panels. Alternatively toss in a few cedar blocks. By sanding boards and block ever year or two you can effectively rejuvenate the cedar fragrance. The scent repels moths and discourages them from laying eggs.

Store fabric in a cool, dark and dry place. Garages, attics and unfinished basements is a poor place to store clothes.

Underutilized closets or chest of drawers in a spare room for instance is the ideal place to store your off-season clothes. You may consider offering to pay your cleaner $20 or $30 to store a season’s load of clothes for you just like expensive leathers and furs.

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.

So we’d said we’d be organizing the kitchen later. Well, here’s later.

There are a few steps one must follow in order to organize anything.

First, everything needs to come out. At this point one can discard all inessentials that are not used in the normal course of things. Discard also any spices that are not fresh any more, any food or drugs beyond their expiry dates.

This is the time to clean or freshen up drawers and shelves. Go ahead and wash out cupboards and drawers with warm, soapy water. Rinse or wipe dry, dry out and replace cupboard and drawer liners.

If you have a collection of home-made jams, jellies, preserves, pickles etc. get them all together, label them with your own fancy labels proudly claiming them as your own and display them prominently in your kitchen. Here are some samples of labels you can easily customize:

As you’re organizing, you’re sanitizing and redecorating your kitchen as well. Childproof your kitchen while you’re about it especially if your infants have just turned into toddlers or you have any toddlers visiting you often.

Banish sharp tools, chemicals, and other toxic stuff well out of reach of children. On the other hand if there are certain things in your kitchen they are allowed to use, such as the kitchen towel, paper towel, plastic mugs, napkins etc. make sure they are well within their reach.

Pots and pans, frying pans etc. can be stored near the stove. Dishes, silverware, glasses, mugs etc. can either be placed near your dishwasher for your convenience or near the eating area. To keep silverware in order use drawer dividers or cutlery racks.

Spices are best stored away from light. Store them close to the stove for cooking convenience but not on the hackneyed place over the stove. They are exposed to too much heat near the stove. Keep them in a drawer or cupboard near the stove instead.

Foods that can get infested or bad are best stored in airtight containers or plastic containers, well sealed and labeled.

Now that your kitchen is well organized, happy cooking! Enjoy your kitchen!

Monica Ricci, professional organizer, categorizes people according to their work styles. Know your work style and you’ll know how to plan and organize your work life.

She categorizes people as:

• the planner
• the perfectionist
• the go-getter
• the procrastinator

The planner sees ahead and is very well organized, reliable and has a terrific work ethic. However, thinking ahead, s/he tend to horde lots of material in case of future necessity.

One modus operandi would be to create an accordion file, or two or three and loosely categorize and file away material with labels for each eventuality. Every now and then the planner then needs to briefly glance through the labels. Whatever is no longer useful, can then be purged.

The perfectionist, too, is very work oriented and motivated. They figure they must always do everything themselves so they can do it just so. However, this can become very overwhelming. The perfectionist needs to learn to check out others who can help them in their task, grow their trust in them and start gradually delegating first small portions of the work and then larger as time goes on. With big assignments they should be able to hire outside services who they have thus checked out over a period of time and start delegating, being able to supervise and monitor the entire project eventually.

The go-getter can attract projects and is invariably very involved with various people on a wide range of stuff. They often travel in the line of work. They may have a desktop, a laptop, many to-do lists. They need to develop a system through which they can always access all the scattered information. Technology comes rushing through for such individuals. There are many products on the market that helps go-getters access their computer from remote. The NomaDesk is one such which helps a go-getter access any number of computers once s/he is granted access to it by its owner. They can swoop in and use or share software and files on the accessed computer. They don’t need to travel with all the software they normally use on their notebook. For smaller workloads there are the handy flash-drives so readily available.

For the not-so techno-friendly there’s always the good old three-ring binder with all information appropriately labeled and easily accessed from anywhere.

Lastly, the procrastinator! The procrastinator always means to do everything. The question becomes when. It is as if Time is too abstract a concept for them. They never seem to fully grasp that, “Time and tide waits for no man……” They need to transform Time in a more concrete manner. Color coded planners can help them create a timeline in the here and now. It will help them create deadlines. Larger tasks can be broken up and have a series of smaller deadlines to meet.

Thus each work type can use their own means of organization that can serve them well and help them to not only achieve their goals but get less stressed out as well.