The best app I have seen lately for the Iphone is the doc scanner. Wow! I was thrilled to be able to quickly scan a document by taking a picture with the phone and selecting the edges of the document to scan. Then just email the document when finished scanning. This is a great office tool because you can scan a documents quickly and send using your mobile phone. It is especially helpful if your away from your office. If you are short on space in your office and trying to keep it organized it can help you cut down on extra equipment that clutters your office rarely gets used.

Thinking about redesigning your closet with custom shelving? Be sure to follow a few of these organizing tips before finalizing the measurements. Go through all of your clothes, shoes and accessories and decide what you want to keep. Purge anything you no longer need or love. Next, count your long hanging clothing, short hanging clothing, shoes and accessories. Measure the amount of space they will need. If you switch out your seasonal clothing be sure to customize your closet for all seasons. Look over your clothing and make sure you plan for everything that will be stored here and additions. If you have more shoes in the summer and tall boots for winter be sure you plan enough space for all footwear. Continue taking stock of other items such as sweaters, jackets and anything else that changes in your wardrobe through the seasons.

Staying in touch with family and friends is important. These days with technology were able to email, text or video chat and connect instantly. But when was the last time you sent a letter, birthday card or thank you note in the mail? If you dont have a lot of time to shop for cards, address and mail by your friends next birthday theres hope! Check out Hallmarks special occasion cards where you can add a photo and message to a real card. They address, stamp and mail your card by a specific date. It challenging to keep all those birthday cards and dates organized. Make it easy on yourself and do it once a year from the comfort of your home or office of course.

Take your organized kitchen up a notch with batch cooking. If you are going to mess up the kitchen by chopping, grilling and baking try to do it just once a week. Double or triple recipes for browning meat, preparing sauces or entire meals then separate into resealable bags, containers or pans and freeze. Just pull out of your freezer when ready to use. This will cut your cooking time even more and allow you to prepare healthy meals. It will also save you money on convenience items such as shredded or precooked foods that you can prepare yourself. Its important to keep your freezer organized by labeling the ingredients including the date. Liquids can lay flat in a resealable bags and plastic containers can stack taking up less space.

You have to eat, so you have to shop and you have to cook. It's part of your everyday life. The better organized you are in the kitchen the happier, healthier and hopefully less hungry you will be. Here are a few simple kitchen organizing tips I follow for the week. First of all plan your menu. What do you want to eat each week? Who will be eating and when? The more prepared you are the easier the preparations. Next go shopping in your refrigerator, pantry and freezer for staples you can use, spices and other ingredients. If you can use what you already have the less money you will spend. Look up recipes that call for those ingredients or check your own recipe folder for simple meals you know everybody likes. Ingredients you don't have should go on your weekly shopping list.
This is how I look at each week. Monday through Thursday is quick and Easy. Friday is Pizza or other delivery. Saturdays and Sundays we have more time to try new recipes or meals that take longer to prepare. We try to make enough on the weekend so we can have a leftovers on Monday. A simple salad is always nice to add on Monday's to make up for weekend fun.

Next time you organize your linen closet be sure you have everything you will need to store here. You want to make sure you are starting with all of your clean laundry, except for the pieces that are on your bed, guest towels and washcloths that you keep in the bathroom. Now you are ready to purge what you don't want and see what fits in your closet. Make sure to fold your sheets, towels and washcloths in a way that is easy for you. And show other family member how to fold the laundry so everything fits every time.

Going to the movies is always fun. Especially when you know your going to see a great flick. We usually plan our movie with plenty of time to park, pick up tickets, get popcorn and sit down. You have to be organized for this event if you want to get a good seat. At least in Chicago! One way to make our experience go smoothly is by ordering our tickets online before heading out. It will save you so much time waiting in line. Why wait when you could be sitting in your seat watching the previews?

The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house. It can be challenging to keep everything organized. Sometimes when I wait for the tea pot to boil or microwave to finish I think about this quote "If you've got time to lean you've got time to clean". It always makes me laugh but I end up sifting through one of our drawers for quick organizing project. Maybe its reorganizing the utensil drawer or plastic food containers. It just takes a few minutes but a great way to be useful during those moments when you have nothing to do.

I think keyless locks are a much better way to access your home. You dont have to worry about losing your keys or struggle to find them. Organizing the mystery keys will be a thing of the past. We had 4 different keys to our home and that was just to get into the front door. Then we broke our main key in the lock and had to have the it replaced. That was no fun at all! If you have several people in and out of your home it can be difficult to keep track of who has a key, who needs to return it and sadly who has lost one of your keys. Keyless locks are great because you can change the code whenever you want using the keypad.

Sometimes the simplest tasks can take forever especially when you don't have the right tools at hand. For example do you often need scissors to clip tags or threads on clothing when getting ready but end up going to another room for a pair of scissors? Save time by having another pair in your dressing area for quick fixes. Organize a few other items that you might use regularly in that space as well. Do you constantly find pieces of trash around and have to carry it all to another room for the main trash can? Solve this time waster by putting trash cans in every room! If it saves you time to have the same item in two places...go for it! Make frequent tasks simple. Your space should always work for you and your lifestyle.

Storage bins are an a professional organizers #1 tool next to the label maker. They come in all shapes, sizes, textures with or without lids. I like to use storage bins with lids because they can stack on top of each other. Perfect for storing out of season clothes or shoes in the top of your closet. One thing to think about when using this type of organizing solution is if you use the items on a regular basis. And will this work for you when accessing items? Sometimes drawers are a better solution because they are easy to open close.

If your are an online or in line shopper its important to think about a few things before you bring new items home. First you need to think about your storage space and its capacity. You can't get 5 lbs of stuff in a 10 lb bag. I live in the city and as much as I would love to shop at the big warehouse stores there's just no place to store large quantities unless I make some changes. I could put 20 rolls of paper towels in my linen closet but where would I put my towels? I love a good sale but I also know how many rolls of paper towels I can fit in my cabinet and how much I will use before my next shopping order. Here's something else to think about, "How much of one particular item can you consume before the expiration date"? Do you have a giant bottle of vitamins that you got on sale? It might have sounded like a good deal at the time but remember you might not finish the bottle by the expiration date. I know if I see a product on sale like yogurt which I really like with a price of 10 for $5. Sounds good to me at first but sometimes end up eating one or two of those yogurts before they all expire! This is also applies to veggies before they go bad. Sometimes this can happen when shopping for clothes. Your favorite tee shirt is on sale so you buy one in every color but end up wearing only one or two.

Sometimes too much of a good thing just doest work. Think about what you really need before shopping and make sure you have the space, the time and won't loose interest.

Living with things you no longer use or need is a waste of valuable space. But organizing your home or office can often free up some of this wasted space. Last week I wrote about organizing your Entertainment center. If you had a chance to go through your Cd's or DVDs and get rid of the cases you may have several shelves available now. This is great time to rethink the storage possibilities for the space. If you have a lot of gaming accessories like tennis rackets or steering wheels they can be stored here. Its also a great place to store your laptop, cords and other accessories.

There's nothing worse than seeing a bad movie. It can be such time waster! Not only is it important to organize our homes and offices but we also have to organize our fun! This is of course if you want to get the most out of your time and money spent on entertainment. Next time you head out to the movies be sure to check the movie reviews. I found a useful sight that gives movie reviews as well as movies recently released on DVD. Check out Rotten Tomatoes to see the average rating and who liked it.

My absolute favorite organizing tool is the clear storage bin. Clear storage bins can be used in almost any area. They come in many shapes and sizes and are so very useful in organizing because they are clear and you can see the contents! We usually add a label to the clear bin and often use in areas behind closed doors. We can store everything from shoes, boots, sweaters, office supplies, crafts, to bulkier items like blankets and use for under bed storage. They are very durable and the best part is they are great for stacking.

Organize your office with simple storage solutions.
Colorful boxes are great for storing office items and stacking on open shelves. Organize and conceal items such as electronics, cords and adapters, photos or whatever takes up valuable drawer real estate. If it isn't used often or it doesn't have to have immediate access it can be stored in a box on a shelf.

For a more high end look I recommend the leather storage box for any open shelf.

Next to the kitchen the Media room is one of the most used rooms in the home. And the entertainment center one of the most used pieces of furniture. One of the first things I recommend to organize and save space is to go through all the CD’s, DVD’s and Games. Then get rid of the cases because they take up so much room! After getting rid of the cases organize them and put them into the CD wallets.
Getting rid of the liner notes is an option if you will never read and have no use. This information its easily accessible online. But there are wallets that hold them as well.

Organize CD’s, DVD’s and Games into separate wallets.
Music Cd’s can be organized by Genre, box sets, soundtracks and artist. You name it!
I recommend thin books because they are easy to manage. They are lightweight and don't get too heavy. You don't need to store 200 CD’s in one book. You can barley lift it.

DVD’s can be organized by Classics, TV Series, Family, Comedy, Horror, Romance, Action and Science fiction.
After organizing the music, movies and games. Make a master list of each title then label the books and pages.

Any space that holds things can be organized. Here's a few of my favorite my favorite tools for keeping your closet organized.

Belt Hanger

The belt hanger is great for hanging belts and it doesn't take up a lot of space. If you have a lot of belts you can keep them organized by separating on either side by color, size or texture.

Tie Organizer

Men get a lot of ties and can be hard to keep organized. A tie hanger is an easy addition to the closet. The ties hang from the hanger, don't get wrinkled and they are easy to see. You can also use it to store necklaces. They won’t get tangled up like they do in a jewelry drawer.

Scarf Organizer - Scarves are tricky because of their fabric, shape and size. Often when you

fold scarves you cant see them all, they get creases or they slip all over. This scarf hanger fits

easily on the closet rod and its easy to see and access all of your scarves. You can organize

by color, style and sometimes brand.

The next opportunity you have to organize a space whether its 2 minutes to work on a junk drawer or a few hours to organize your home office. Think about this quote by William Morris to help guide you with the difficult decisions to keep or toss something.

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

Grocery shopping can be overwhelming. First you have to shop, then you have to transport everything back home in time to prevent frozen or refrigerated foods from thawing or spoiling. Once you get home you have 15 mystery bags of groceries to put away. One lucky bag contains a quart of ice-cream, another has a carton of milk and somewhere there is a pound of fresh fish. There is a lot to do when it comes to food shopping. It can take a few hours from start to finish. Make it easier on yourself from the time you unload your grocery cart to the last can of beans put away in the pantry. Get organized before you leave the house by bringing your own reusable grocery bags and cooler bags for all your refrigerated and frozen items. Separate your items in the checkout by refrigerated, pantry items, cleaning products and paper products. Be sure to notify the cashier that you would like to keep your items separate. When you return home you can immediately grab the items that need to go into the refrigerator or freezer and put them away. Different types of bags will help you distinguish what goes where, refrigerator, freezer, pantry or sometimes even the garage for overstock items.

Do you think you can find an important document in one of the stacks of paper in your office? Could you do it in 10 seconds? Most likely its going to take a long time to sift through each piece of paper. The problem with stacks of paper is you can only see what is on top and there are no categories. Older paperwork just waits patiently on the bottom for an action. The unfortunate part about the older paperwork is it could be a very important like a bill that needs to be paid or a timely response. Be sure to always separate your paperwork immediately after it has been viewed. Decide if it requires and action, such as paying or responding (Bills, invitations, doctors appointments). Ask yourself if you need it for reference? (warranties, receipts, statements). If you dont have a filing system set one up and save your important documents where they can be easily accessed.

The new calender year means annual renewals for the 2011. Be sure you are ready for expiration dates, new policies and sometimes higher fees. Go through your credit cards, memberships, insurance forms and other documents to prepare yourself for new paperwork and any changes. When you know your credit card or car registration will be expiring you can expect new cards or renewal forms in the mail. Be sure you are on the lookout when new mail comes in and open it immediately! Some of this paperwork will require an action from you like reading, filling out paperwork and sending back. Some companies do automatic subscription or membership renewal. Find out what the policy is and confirm your continued interest or be sure you cancel in the required time frame.

I love going out for coffee. There's nothing like the aroma of fresh ground coffee brewing and the hiss of an espresso machine steaming milk for my morning latte. It can be difficult to capture this same coffee experience at home and at the same it can get very expensive. I wanted to be able to duplicate this at home and I was determined to figure out how to make a great latte or cappuccino. I tried heating up milk and adding it to a coffee, shaking hot milk in a container and even whisking hot milk on the stove and nothing worked. So I started looking into purchasing a espresso machine. After researching various machines, I decided I didn't want the expense. I also did not want to add another appliance to my counter top taking up valuable real estate. Plus we already owned a coffee maker. Its important to think about whats most important before making a major purchase especially if its going to take up any space. In my research learned I didn't need a espresso machine at all, what I really needed was something to make froth. I found several products and spoke to friends about my research. It turns out they had some of these products, they didn't really work and ended cluttering up cabinets and drawers. I of course didn't want this problem. I remembered I had seen a frothing product for sale that looks like a mini french press, it adds air to the milk when you pump the handle. I actually had a French press in my entertaining cabinet where I store items I use occasionally. So I tested it out with hot milk at it worked like a charm! I'm so happy to be able to use something I already own and Im saving money.

The holidays may have left your toy room busting at the seems. A whole new level of games, toys and activities may have just changed the room and the way it gets used. Its time to shift some toys around to make the room work again. Heres a quick organizing tip for making decisions about which toys to keep and which ones to give away.
Dont keep more than one toy that does the same thing. Two toys that have buttons with the alphabet calling the letter and object are the same. Pick the toy you think will work best and give away the other.
If you now have the new or more advanced version of a toy keep the new one out and give away the other. Its sort of like your new cell phone, why do you need the old one if your new one has all the latest and greatest features?
Try to keep in mind, too many toys can be overwhelming for your kids and your toy room shelves.
If you have have twins or siblings close in age you may have to keep 2 of the exact same or similar toys but if you have a 3rd and 4th that are similar give it away. I'm very familiar with this idea because one of my sisters is 17 months older then me and we had two of everything to keep the peace.

Managing your time is easier when you have a calender. Getting a new calender to start off the new year is a major decision! How will you keep track of your daily activities, work and social schedules? Will it be your computer, phone or the good old paper calender so you can write things down? Whatever you decide make sure it works for you. If you use your computer its easy to set reminders to your pop up, text your phone or email. Phones have many options including actual ringing and can sync with your computer. But your paper calender isnt going to do remind you so you have to make sure you can cleary see important events. Be sure to look at your calender on a daily basis or you could miss events. Whatever tool you use, I hope it helps you get to where you need to go...on time!

What's your favorite type of calender?

Happy New Year! Its that time again for the New Years resolution and getting organized has made it into the top 10. I hope that if organizing is one of your resolutions this year you will be successful! Heres a few tips.
First let's define organization.
Organizing is NOT about being perfect or neat. Nobody ever says I just love Jane she is soooo organized. But they do love that they can depend on Jane. They like that she does what she says she is going to do. They like that Jane arrives on time and knows where to find those important files. What they love is the result of being organized.
Organizing is a tool to help you achieve your bigger goals.