Welcome to the Laurel Plum Online Clutter Scavenger Hunt.

Today I want you to start thinking of the many things in your life that you can put on automatic.

For a fraction of the price of the drive through or convenience store coffees, you can get an automatic coffee maker with all of the flavored syrups and fixings. This will not just save some cash. Add up the time you spend going that little bit out of the way then sitting in line each day.

There are a lot of other gadgets that I would love to have. A couple that I am actively saving to buy. I’m sure I’m not the only one that jumped for joy the first time they saw a commercial for the automatic vacuum robots. (Was I ?) There are a lot of other cool automated gizmos. Litter boxes,  pet feeders, sprinkling systems and self watering devices for plants, just to name a few. What about audio books? I think those count. Look for the low tech alternatives to the gadgets, too. An empty bottle can be used to water your plants to save you a few extra trips with the water can.

I am sure several of you have used timers for lights when you have been out of town to thwart burglars. Why not set them to turn the lights on in the morning or when you usually arrive home, and off when you leave or after bedtime? They can be used similarly to the programmable thermostats to save energy (and coin).

You do not have to go out to purchase an appliance to make some automated changes in your life. Many are more about taking a little extra time now to save you a lot of time in the future.

How about setting your fixed bills on automatic payment through your bank? Most utilities offer the option to make the payment based on the average monthly payments over one year. We have chosen the option and have been very pleased with the way it has worked for us. Our budget has stayed more consistent from month to month throughout the year. We really noticed the difference that first Christmas season. We never before realized just how many of our bills were stacked during the fall to winter months.

Speaking of which, you can also set up a separate account(s) for the infrequent bills like property taxes, your various insurance accounts, the fees that come up at the beginning of each school year, a Christmas account, etc then set up automatic frequent transfers to those account each pay day from your main account. Taking smaller chucks of your paycheck over time will feel less painful than coming up with the whole payment at once. Figure out the yearly expenditure and divide it by the number of paychecks your household brings in. Then set up those automatic transfers into a separate savings account(s) at your bank. (You may need to make partial transfers each month this year then supplement the rest next year or to start making larger transfers after your last big payment of this year to make this work.)

There are a lot of things you can automate on your computer. Set up reminders and alarms for birthdays and appointments. Use a calendar/task program that uses repeating event occurrences so the regular chores on your to do list come up as scheduled instead of continually rewriting them just so you can mark them off. (Am I the only one that likes to do that?) Use an RSS reader to grab the articles from your favorite websites as they are published.  Have your computer scheduled to make back up copies of your most important files or the entire hard drive so you don’t have to worry about losing all of those precious pictures!

There are a LOT of things you can automate to save you time, trouble, money, or even to add safety.

This is another one to revisit from time to time to keep making little changes. But do see if there is something you can do right now that would make a difference in your life.  Then make sure to tell us about it so we can cheer you on and follow your example!

What things do you already do, use or want to try?

Welcome to the Laurel Plum Online Clutter Scavenger Hunt.

Today I want you to start paying attention to all of the disposable items you already have around your house AND to some disposables you could start using to save yourself time.

There are a lot of things you can eliminate. They are things that will make a big difference to the clutter around your house whether it be by reducing the amount of trash you have, the space you need to store them, or in many cases – cha-ching – the change you keep doling out when you can pay a tad more one time for a more permanent solution.

But the opposite is true, too. There are places where you can begin using disposables instead of permanent pieces. You will not be getting an award for ‘Going Green’ anytime soon, but I have frequently made suggestions to compliment an individuals situation.

This challenge will be another one you ought to revisit form time to time. Some items and their alternatives will come to mind right away and their changes will be fairly easy to implement. Other items you may need to think about or will not notice until you get into the practice of eliminating/adding disposables.

Reducing Disposables

When trying to figure out where to eliminate disposables, start by paying attention to the multitude of things you are most frequently putting in your trash can or recycle bin. Pick any one of those things and think about ways to do without it completely or to replace it with something you could use over and over again.

Each of us will have our own list.  I have a few quick examples.

• How about getting rid of junk mail or some of the other items we have already covered in the Clutter Scavenger Hunt?
• It has been several years since I purchased paper towels. I traded them in for microfiber and T-shirt rags, and an abundant supply of white terry cloth hand towels. This one saved me time and money in several places. With window washing alone I saved a fortune on the paper towels and the cleaning solution AND because I no longer had to take the time to tear off or gather up and lug around the used remnants I was able to speed the job up considerably.
• Choosing rechargeable batteries for all of those remotes and electronic gadgets you have everywhere. We have a charger that accepts several different sizes from AAA to D.  As quickly as batteries deplete, this has saved us another small fortune. BTW – We are big into DIY and make sure we have spare rechargeable batteries for many of our tools. But if you only use your tools once or twice a year, maybe sticking to tools that plug in would be a better alternative. Even rechargeable batteries have a shelf life and as tool manufacturers upgrade their lines, over time some may be harder to replace than others. If we have to replace a tool after a few years of use because of the battery, it may be a disappointment, but the tool has paid for itself many times over before it became obsolete.  Make sure you could say the same either in convenience or financially before you invest.
• Opting for cloth diapers (or diaper services) over disposable diapers.
• Choosing online versions of newspapers, communication and other services (like your calendar) where physical paper usually does the job.
• Chose fresh or frozen foods over their canned versions more often. The cans take up more space in your trash bag and usually can not be recycled as easily. The cans change the taste of food.  And I remember the days before I began meal planning. I was more likely to opt to pass on the fresh and frozen choices if I was unsure if we were out. It was easy to overstock cans in the pantry. The canned goods take up more space, more money in the long run, and are usually not as healthy as the alternatives.

Organizing Basics – Taking this scavenger hunt up a notch, next time you try the challenge, take a look at the things that take a lot of room to store. Look in your pantry, your cleaning closet, every catch all space. Try to think of alternatives that will take up less room and also may provide other benefits.

Second Steps – After a few times through reducing your disposable storables, start getting creative to see just how very Green and/or Space Savvy you can be. Start looking at all of the items you put into your trashcan or recycle bin. I mean each and every item. Think you could get to a point where you have only one trash bag a month? Look into each and every little storage space you have. Think you could get to a point where you have replaced all of your disposables?

Adding Disposables

There are many circumstances where adding disposables into your life can save you time, add to your freedom in very significant ways, or simply add something special to the quality of our lives.

Now anyone can picture a sink full of dirty dishes that have been there longer than they should have been. There have been many times when I have suggested that someone quits using their quality dinnerware and started using paper plates.

• Maybe the person or family are in a transitional phase and using the paper plates will give them a temporary stay until the time when they can better settle into a more permanent routine. There have been two occasions in my experience when it was not a life transition that called to add disposables for a while, but a transition of choices or perspective. Both were people that had over committed their time to the point they literally did not have time to do dishes. They had also gotten tired of paying for cleaning services and/or eating out for every meal. For both, we implemented many disposables while working to reduce their commitments and setting up other productivity systems.
• Maybe they are disabled or other-abled and dish washing or even using a dishwasher takes considerable effort or causes pain that could be eliminated.
• On occasion, I have known elderly shut ins who have given up on eating because of the trouble it takes to cook and clean. On those occasions we have switched not only to paper plates, but made sure to have many of the single serving and easy open packaged meals made for the kids lunchboxes available in the house, and tried to arrange frequent meal delivery by family or local services with disposable utensils. (If you know a shut in, also know that some will get to a point if it is not out in the open in plain sight, they will not open the cabinet or refrigerator to select anything. You can encourage eating by cluttering up those counter tops with non perishable selections. You can stand to keep the clutter and keep it clean when you know that it enables the person to be happy, healthy, and to continue independent living with some assistance.)

These are only a few examples of when adding disposables is a great idea.

Upgrading SOME Disposables – Another Second Step

I have to admit, I have had a long love affair with paper. I get just as swoony in an office supply store as I do when shoe shopping. I am not technologically challenged, nor am I resistant to change. There is just something about the look and feel of paper. There is something comforting about them and the actions made when using paper that I just do not get by using the non disposable alternatives.

In many instances, I recognized an opportunity to improve my attitude and quality of life by treating those things as luxuries. I started by upgrading my office supplies, but have since over the years carried it over to other disposables.  I bought some nice note cards and stationary sets to send actual letters on occasion instead of e-mail. I have traded in some of the spiral notebooks I have continued to keep year after year for journals. I decorated many of my planners and idea books. I even upgraded file folders and other systems and containers to specifically add to my decor.  There are many other examples of ways I have over time upgraded a few disposables, but I do not want you running out to the store just because I mentioned it.

I suggest you start looking at disposables that you could upgrade to enliven your mood.  Now, do not go crazy and spend a fortune. You will waste not only money but a lot of space and products if you just go out and buy up a whole product line just because you like the way it looks. Really pay attention to the tried and true items that you have used consistently for a very long time.

For each one, is it something that will forever go unnoticed, or could dressing it up just a bit make a small difference to your day? The next time you need to replace one of the items you are thinking of upgrading instead of comandeering it from your kids or buying the least expense option, look for some of the things available.

Then Make Sure To Share Your Ideas!

Let us know what ideas come to your mind. I know you’ll have a ton of ideas I haven’t thought of yet. Let the rest of us know! Share the good experiences, the down side, and anything else you are thinking of trying.

As always, when we get conversations going in the comments, we all learn from one another!

Life keeps throwing those curves in the path doesn’t it? I did not mean to abandon you once again so soon after recovering from my back injury. In early September, one of my parents was hospitalized and their stay lasted for just over six weeks. During those weeks, we lost another close family member. I just don’t think 2009 has been my year.

I feel after so much combined time off, I need to get a fresh start with this site.

So what will be changing?

I really miss the LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt. I never meant to put it off so long. I got sidetracked trying to get out all of the timely and theoretical articles because the readership grew faster than I had expected. I like the Clutter Scavenger Hunt. I have a lot of them that have been patiently waiting in my back pocket from the very beginning.  It will once again become the biggest regular feature of the site.

I have several series planned. Trying to get them out in relation to the time of year hasn’t worked very well. It has also felt like beating a dead horse when I tried to get each one out all at once before moving on to something else. (It took at least a month to get through the Kitchen Series. And it still isn’t finished!) Not only does it get boring for all of us, it gives me a feeling that I am trying to catch up. I imagine if you are reading them as they are written, you feel the same. From now on, I will work on them in the background and put them on the site in chunks, AS I get to them instead of corresponding to the season.

Get Excited! The first series I want to focus on as I make this fresh start is a tutorial for building a customized Home Management Planner system using three ring notebooks! (Don’t worry. I will still finish the Back to School series I was working on when the ceiling seemed to come crashing down.)

There have been a lot of changes around the internet over the past couple of years. So many of the links around here are outdated and broken. Many specific solutions have been phased out since I initially mentioned them. I want to point you to some good alternatives. I am going to be spending a lot of time reviewing all of the articles and pages already on here. For those of you that have hung in there with me from early on {Thank you SO much!}, you will probably be seeing the old articles hit your inbox or reader in a revised version.

When I first started this site, I had hopes to quickly settle into a regular daily schedule with each day having its own feature. Given the past year, I won’t dare commit to a daily schedule for new articles. I will try to aim for every Monday. The old stuff will probably be coming randomly the rest of the week until I have reviewed all of them.

I have a few other things up my sleeve for us, too!  Stay tuned for them!

You can lend me a hand.

Do you want to show more encouragement or guidance?  All it takes is for you to brave making a comment for everyone to see.  Let me know what you like and what you don’t.  Let others know when you have a resource that goes with the article topics. Share your additional tips and stories.  When conversations get going in the comments, we will all learn from each other.

This week has been crazy! The Little Guy has now finished his first week of real school. He did very well and really enjoys it. Yay! ! This has been a BIG transition for both of us. Honestly, I think he has taken it in stride better than I have.

There were a lot of things I had forgotten since the last time I had one meeting this milestone. Like the utter load of paperwork and how exhausted they are at the end of the school day.  And just how heart wrenching it is for me to watch him go up the sidewalk every morning.  From here it is a quick sprint to graduation. I can not tell you how many mornings I caught myself watching his TV shows out of habit.  We are both starting to adjust and settling into our new, separate routines.

About That Paperwork

This picture is not one I found. That huge bundle of paper is what was collected during one week of kindergarten. So for a little while, LPO will be all about projects that can be used to deal with the mountain of paper that will be coming through the door over the school year.

I’ll just send the articles to you as I do the projects.  Just wanted to let you know that you may be seeing one hit your in box every couple of days or several in a single day. Hopefully you will see enough alternatives to get some inspiration for a system that will work for you.

If one of the projects takes a little longer to actually put together, I will probably drop in a quicker school related article. I just wanted you to know what to expect.

First Things First

The first thing I need to do before setting up any system for the paper mound is to sort this stack into categories.  That will give me a good indication of what to expect in the months to come. Once I know what to expect, I will have an idea of what systems I need to set up to deal with it each day as it comes in. I sure don’t want to sort through a pile like this every week.

After sorting it out, here are the categories I came up with:

• To return to school. Most were things I needed to fill out, sign, or otherwise take action on.
• To reinforce. All of the FYI items. School rules, class rules, the teacher’s syllabus, etc.. If kids learn early that they have different sets of rules and expectations depending on who they are with or where they are, it can back fire big time during the teenage years. We are going to start with home/school continuity from the start, then build from there. If you have an older child, you can treat the beginning of each school year as a fresh start. A time to re-establish and set new guidelines. Do take a minute early on to go over the school’s rules and any additional expectations with them. If you try to make it all up as you go along, they may not take it as seriously. Set the foundation properly and build from there.
• Calendars and Events.
• Newsletters and Correspondence.
• Classwork. All of the things that do not need to be returned. In the early years, this pile will be added to daily. Older kids will often toss it out on their own or carry it around all year long. Set up a place for them to put the pages now. It will lighten the load of their backpacks while keeping it as a temporary reference. Remember when you were surprised to find out the final exam was comprehensive? Get them in the habit of archiving their work so they can be prepared for the day they get the news that one of theirs will be, too.
• Keepsakes.  A small sampling of exceptional work, things that particularly express their personalities, the ‘for Mommy’ mementos, and their report cards.

I will probably need to add a few more categories as the school year strolls by. I just need to keep that in mind. For each system we set up, we need to make sure to keep a little room for flexibility.

Sort out your paper into categories that make sense to you. They do not need to be the same as mine. Knowing what you are working with will make it much easier to find systems/products that are a good fit for you.

Is anyone curious about the progress in my little school room?  I’ll give you an update today on the clean up then we will get to the fun stuff! The next articles will be all about the projects that I am putting together to organize the room for learning for him, year long manageability for me.

Beginning to Organize

Just a reminder. This is what the ’school room’ looked like when I started (due to the lingering remodel to the craft room elsewhere in the house):

It’s time to clean it up! I went through my list of basic starter tools. I gathered everything on hand and set it up ready to go. Luckily there was enough room to move the table for extra working room.

In the picture you can see where a clear pocketed shoe organizer is over the door, the laundry baskets set out for sorting, a small trashcan, and a couple of boxes of baggies. You can not see the laundry basket in the floor below the shoe organizer temporarily holding everything that was on the table before I started. Or the CD player plugged up ready to go in the next room. You also can not see the notebook and pen ready to catch all of the mind leaks and ideas, but they were there. The majority of the containers in the floor against the walls are full.

Finding A Starting Point

Even after the ideas, the planning, the preparation, considering hazards and bottlenecks, sometimes the hardest part about a bigger job like this is just actually digging in. Where do you start? Do you pick something safe that you feel indifferent about? Do you pick something big? Something small? It varies from person to person.

When you work on your spaces, don’t over think this part. Just reach in and go for something. Anything. Let your gut lead you. If you hit a proverbial wall, take a second and write it down in your notebook. It may help you to decipher your personal mine fields. What was your wall? Lack of energy? Getting emotional? Something you physically could not tackle alone? All of the above? If you can discover your strengths, your weaknesses, things that work, the things that do not -  let’s call it your decluttering style – you can become more confident for the next job.

I am one of those that prefers to work in a spatial pattern on big jobs. My normal pattern starts at the door, works forward into the center of the room, and radiates in widening circles until I reach the walls, a stopping block, or run out of time. The standard rule of thumb is to touch everything as few times as possible. When I am in doubt, I break that rule. I move the thing over into the clutter a few feet to reconsider later. If I sit there staring at it, I can come up with a million alternatives. To keep moving on to the next thing saves me time, keeps up the momentum, and makes it easier to let go next time if the reason has still not come to mind.

In this case, after I cleaned off the table everything except my tools were against the walls. I picked the spot next to the entry door as my starting point. I could work my way around the room working top to bottom with the things directly in front of me, make a step to the right, then repeat.

Presorting

I’m sure you have frequently seen the recommendation to set up three (sometimes more) boxes. One for things to keep. One for things to trash. One for things to donate/giveaway. In this room, I needed to do some presorting before I could get to that point.  There was so much going on in this room. I needed to sort like things with like things first.

The breakdown of categories for my circumstance:

• Craft stuff
• Containers
• Office/school supplies
• Decorations to go into the craft room
• Fixtures/decorations that came out of what will be the craft room
• Weird, odd things that should be elsewhere that had been dumped by various people during the transition (See, it happens to everyone. Once a space is in disarray it becomes a magnet for the misplaced.)

After completing the presort (sorry about the horrible pictures):

In the baskets – All of the craft supplies, including fabric, patterns, notions, tools, etc.

The file carts underneath is the result of organizing all of the scattered paperwork that was originally in the room my grand parents left behind.

Against the wall – A huge stack of now emptied containers.

In the corner – The shelf holds the same books it held before plus a few decorative odds and ends. These are the ones I have not decided for sure to use in my new space.

On the table- A notebook with four new pages of notes to be transferred to project pages, the to do list, and people to call. One full basket of items that should be elsewhere and the removed fixtures from the other room.

Under the table – The decorative items I know I want to use in the craft space.

The school/office supplies on the last wall over filled one more laundry basket. That bookshelf is now empty. I still did not mess with Hubby’s computers and his shelf.  I offered to help him. He was not interested. There is not a picture of this wall because Hubby was camera shy and busy.

There were two chairs old straight back chairs that did not go with this table. We kept them for his space. They were taken to the garage for now. The chairs that do go with this table were stacked in the hall for now.

I also ended up with half a bag of trash.

Over all, even with emptying all of those containers, almost everything that was in there when I started is still there in these pictures. Yet look how much extra room there appears to be just from getting it all together.

The Real Assessment Of All The Stuff

Once sorting everything into like with like, each group was much easier to evaluate. I am taking action on each category one at a time.

Odd things and the stuff that goes elsewhere basket. – Two light fixtures and an Easter basket were put in the car for donation. There were a couple of Hubby’s things I turned over to him. Everything else was taken to the rooms where they really belonged and put away. The laundry basket was put away.

The decorative items. -  Once I had these all together, I realized there were fewer things than I had previously thought. There was room for most of it with the still boxed up from the move craft supplies that were in a makeshift closet waiting for the remodeled room. The basket of flower stuff (The black looking blob) was made into an actual arrangement. They are temporarily on top of our refrigerator.   I left the handful of knick knacks on the top of the book shelf in the corner. I’m still not sure about them. As we continue to finish the other room, I will be seeing them everyday to further make up my mind.

The craft stuff. – About half was actually new fabric purchases. Yes, it is a weakness. I can resist for so long, then the fat quarters start calling. I am pretty good about purchasing with a purpose, though. When I was done, I had one laundry basket of non-project ready stash. I took the rest and spent a couple of hours making up project kits using various sizes of zip top baggies. Sewing or not, each one had all of the notions needed to complete a specific project.

I started to put the kits into some of those empty containers. Then changed my mind. I decided they would be very handy as I transition back out of being a full-time Mom as my little guy starts school.  I had the three laundry baskets empty. I sorted all of the kits into three piles by an approximate range of hours it would take to complete. Productive distractions for the few weeks it will take to adjust to the quiet days, before moving on to my own next venture. Having them arranged in kits by approximate completion time will make it possible for me to use the room during the day without being in his way in the afternoon. The laundry baskets will disappear as crafts come together.  They are still stacked on top of the file boxes in the corner. The non project stash went into a couple of the sadder looking containers.

The container pile. -  I really do not have anywhere to put these until the other room is finished. Not yet sure which ones I might use and which ones I will let go. I have designs to use a couple in the school room. Those were set aside.  A couple were used for the non-kit crafts. The rest were better nested within one another to reduce the size of the pile.

The office/school suplies. – I haven’t quite finished with these yet.  I am sorting everything into ‘His’, ‘Mine’, and ‘Ours’, trash, and donate. I do not want him to mistake my permanent markers for his washables. I do not want him to cut himself on my sharper scissors. These things will need to be put up out of his reach. The supplies only he will use need to be most convenient to his reach.

Ready To Learn

The school room is not perfect. It is still a multi-function space. There are still several things in there I would rather have out of the way. Somewhere elese. But I have to work with what I’ve got. Everything in the room is not prettily organized. It is organized so anything can be found as it is needed. The main work space is clutter free. It does not fit our style, but it will function for its intended purpose. There is plenty of room for both of us to do our activities when we will need to. I will put a check in the goal met box. Besides, all rooms are works in progress just like we are. Right?