Organization Archives - Debbie Rodrigues

Get Organized and Rule Your Household with Evernote

by Debbie Rodrigues | Nov 17, 2016 | Organization

Get organized with Evernote using these three tips for household tasks. Let me show you how to get started.

Today I want to share with you how I get and stay organized with Evernote.

If you are new here, just let me give you some background on where I come from.

Getting organized

I decided that 2015 was going to be the year when I was going to get organized at home once and for all.

You can read my monthly accountability posts for my progress.

The thing I realized is that getting organized means something different to each person.

I’m not saying that organization is something different because it is not!

You are an organized person, or you are not. There is no mid-term.

But how one reaches the point of organizing their space and staying like that may vary. And in my case, I was almost another persona at work and home.

Get organized and rule your household with @Evernote. #EvernoteCommunity Click To Tweet

So I decided to make my geekiness my organization ally.

I have been trying all this time to be like those amazing people who simply put things in the right place naturally.

OK, I know they built a habit first.

But, at least in my case, I needed first to figure out what habits worked best before investing in them.

I had to find a way to get organized that fit my personality and made whatever crazy plan I came up with, sustainable.

It was then that I discovered Evernote.

Yeah, Evernote!

I’m pretty sure you have already read tons about how it can be used for blogging, expense tracking, planning, etc.

What I found out, though, is that I could also use Evernote to bring organization to my home as well.

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My goal

Throughout the years, I bought a collection of books about home organization.

Well, lucky me they are e-books. Otherwise, there would be even more clutter for me to go through.

I also followed sites and challenges that helped me get a better understanding of what had to be done, when and how.

From that, I’ve been slowing building a list of to-dos on my Evernote.

Note that it is a work in progress. I’m in no way close to an all-year-round planning yet. But the reason I am already sharing it with you is:

Accountability: by writing it here I am reinforcing my commitment to stay on track and post my findings and progress.
Knowledge sharing: I am the kind of person who loves to share whatever I learn. Knowing things, but only sharing half of the information (and sometimes even wrong information) is not for me.
Growth: I write about what is working for me right now. Maybe you will read it and add your best-practices or suggest me other sources of information. This way we can help each other improve.

References

For starters, I picked the “Flight Plan” from FlyLady.

If you have no clue where to begin, I highly recommend that you check her site.

I used to sign up for her newsletter, but it felt a little spammy after awhile, unfortunately. Still, her tips are amazing.

Another interesting source is the Declutter 365 Missions from Home Storage Solutions.

I’m not following their challenge to the T, but I’m learning a lot from it.

Finally, my favorite book about organizing: Organize Now!, from Jennifer Ford Berry.

It’s divided into weeks, and you have goals to accomplish within that time frame.

Do not let the size of your first list overwhelm you.

The more detailed it is, the better.

It’ll give you an idea of all the things that need to be done.

The more specific, the easier to prioritize and set realistic goals.

Check these organization ideas for home using @evernote. #EvernoteCommunity Click To Tweet

Getting organized with Evernote

Let’s get started with my three tips.

Build up

As I said, I am still getting my list done. It will probably take me another year to get things fully set, ready to reassess.

Why do I say one year?

Because the same way as I did not become a Mrs. Chaos-at-Home overnight, I cannot expect a miraculous solution.

Besides, getting organized is one of my main commitments for this year, but it isn’t the only thing I’m working on.

I cannot say that I’ll fix my list in one month or two because it isn’t realist with my schedule.

Mainly because when I originally wrote this post, I still needed time to recover from surgery, (crawl my way back to) be in shape and do the tasks on my list.

Therefore, first, I’m consolidating the goals from the references I mentioned above according to my own needs.

For example, these lists include school related activities, summer camp, family vacation, etc. I don’t need to include these in my planning.

On the other hand, I have tasks that may not be relevant to others. That one week at a time.

Give yourself time to get organized. No need to stress out about it. #MindfulPlanning Click To Tweet

Put into practice

Every day, we have recurring tasks.

You can choose even to add having breakfast if you have the (bad) habit of skipping it.

To me, it starts with “Checking My Calendar”.

Unless I know what my day reserves for me, I will not able to get anything done.

I’m not going to go too deep into planning here because I have enough posts about it.

But what you can do is adding not only your appointments to your Evernote and calendar but also your home organization tasks.

Remember that I declutter for 15 minutes a day. Because it’s something that is really that important to me, I have one hour blocked for it in my calendar.

You may be thinking:

ONE HOUR?!? But isn’t it a 15-minute declutter?

Yes, but I merge my decluttering with other household tasks.

It makes more sense to me to play “housewife” at the same time than doing things here and there. It’s like writing a blog in one sit.

Stay realistic

After a couple of days, you’ll come across certain patterns: the things you can do as planned and the ones that you cannot.

You’ll find out you overlooked some important tasks in your original list, and you will have to add them.

You’ll see you don’t need to do certain things on a daily basis while others you will have to perform more frequently.

This is the point where frustration makes room for productivity.

You’ll compare the time you really have in your hands with your wish list. Then, you’ll be able to trim your list down and organize your tasks in an efficient and realistic way.

When you use a tool such as Evernote to get organized, it’s easier to rearrange things.

You can have a master list for the entire week and another for each day.

You can also have one for the less frequent house maintenance tasks. It will free your mind for the long term responsibilities as well.

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Why using Evernote

Maybe you’ll say that all this electronic thing is not for you (yet). That is OK.

But try to make an effort to declutter slowly all the agendas, stickers, and post-its you have everywhere.

Having it all in one single tool like Evernote will make your life already much simpler.

You can download it to your favorite device(s) or use the online version.

I lived months with the free version of Evernote. It does have limitations, but if you just want to give it a shot, it has everything that you need.

So my three tips to get organized with Evernote are:

Build up
Put into practice
Stay realistic

If you want to know other ways you can use Evernote to become more productive, just ask! I’d love to help you out.

Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. However, when you order through my link, it helps me to continue to offer you lots of free stuff. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Thank you, in advance for your support!

5 Ways Chaos Destroys Your Holistic Health

by Debbie Rodrigues | Sep 1, 2016 | Organization

Chaos is much more than having too much stuff lying around. It can impact your Holistic Health and here’s 5 ways how it happens.

Let’s do a brief visualization exercise. Imagine the perfect home. Describe the house or apartment of your dreams:

How does it look from inside?
What color is the furniture?
What is your favorite room?
How do you feel living there?
What word would you use to describe this place?

Take all the time you need to do this exercise.

If you work outside your home, repeat the same exercise for the perfect work environment.

Once you’re done, I want you to answer the following question:

Was there chaos in the home/office of your dreams?

I may not know you, but I dare to say your answer was “no“. And how do I know it?

While some of us may struggle with organization, it doesn’t mean we like it.

When we see clutter and chaos, the first word that comes to our mind about the environment is unclean. It’s sometimes also right. Because of the excessive stuff spread around, there are more dark spots than one can clean.

But, there’s even more to it.

The other side of chaos

Who has ever felt at ease where there was no place sit down or even move their feet because of clutter?

Some reality shows depict extreme cases of chaos. Yet, we all had moments when we looked around and all we saw was chaos:

a family member moving in or out
moving to another real estate
house painting
home renovation

Whether it’s a one-off event or a permanent state: this mess is not healthy. The sooner one gets rid of chaos the better.

Be careful with these 5 ways #chaos destroys your #health. #coaching Click To Tweet

When everything around us is messed up, there are 5 ways it can harm (or even destroy) our holistic health:

Stress
Sleep
Productivity
Eating habits
Goals

1. Stress

Picture this: you’re late for an important appointment and you simply cannot find your shoes.

You’re going to a meeting for which you must be well-dressed and you have the perfect pair of shoes. But mixed up with all the other ones, you are able to find just one foot.

Because you cannot waste more time, you grab another pair you have in sight. It doesn’t look new (because it’s not), but it’ll have to do. To arrive on time, you leave in a rush without breakfast to avoid traffic.

When you get to the venue you’re concerned. In your head, something keeps reminding you about the shoes. You were prepared for the meeting itself, so despite all the stress, you do a great job.

So what, Debbie? Everything is fine!

No, it’s not!

You have just flushed your body with unnecessary stress just because of a shoe.

For those who have gone through a similar situation, I’m sure it brings you back memories. How did you felt afterwards? Headache? Sickness? It’s surely a list of very uncomfortable feelings.

The worst part is that you could have avoided them if you didn’t have so much clutter around.

Go to the List

Declutter your mind with self storage by FLEXiSPACE.

2. Sleep

Do you know someone who has to squeeze themselves on a small side of the bed because of all the clothing lying around?

They are:

ironed outfits that need to be put away
the laundry
pairs of jeans
T-shirts
skirts
shorts

All forgotten for way too long in the wrong place.

No one does it on purpose. It just happens, and keeps on happening again and again and you take no action to stop.

According to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 75 percent of its participants said they got a better night’s sleep when their sheets were fresh and clean because they were physically more comfortable.

For those who are unable to put away what’s lying around, how will they manage to change the sheets regularly?

Besides, when you procrastinate, you probably have a tendency of leaving too much to be done right before bedtime. Not only you sleep much later than you should, but you’ll need extra time to unwind, relax and bring yourself to rest.

Go to the List

3. Productivity

The same way that clearing your thoughts and being mindful is good for productivity so is having a clean desk or kitchen countertop.

All excesses are distractions. The more distractions you have to deal with, the harder it’s to focus on what you have to do.

Start your day by checking your planning:

What do you need to do first?
What equipment, appliances or stationary will you need to complete this task?
Once, it’s done, will you need the same objects for the next item on your calendar?

You’ll be saving a lot of time and energy by proceeding this way and you’ll surely accomplish more without chaos.

Go to the List

4. Eating habits

Have you noticed that when you have too much clutter lying around you have less energy?

One of the main reasons why chaos exists at home and at work is because you feel overwhelmed and unable to organize everything. You know it’s something important, but you just can’t get yourself to move forward.

In this mess, making mindful decisions about your intake isn’t an easy task.

If you are in a hurry and hungry, the last thing you’ll think of is cooking a healthy meal. I know it because it happens to all of us.

Cooking some fresh dish will never happen anyway if your kitchen is cluttered and you can hardly move around.

Chaos makes it easier to grab some sugary snack or a TV dinner instead of preparing whole foods.

Go to the List

Organizing is what you do before you do something. - A. A. Milne #quoteoftheday Click To Tweet

5. Goals

Whether or not you got in the boat of resolutions, you probably have goals you want to achieve.

Some people have great lists with their short-, mid- and long-term objectives and they go above and beyond to make their dreams come true.

While making a list is key, if it’s chaotic, chances are you’ll not get much further with it. Even worse is when your goals are spread all over the place, they have conflicting strategies and you have no idea of how close (or far) you are from achieving them.

Not knowing where you are, prevents you from getting anywhere and it’s a stressing situation.

Go to the List

It doesn’t have to be this way

There are many ways one can keep the chaos under control and eventually, get over it. There are countless systems and processes available for all budgets.

But before investing in one method or another, it’s important to go deeper in the issue. You need to sincerely ask yourself:

What is the real source of the chaos?

This source is not necessarily the lack of time to tidy things up, but what comes before:

How do you feel (about yourself)?
Are you feeling overwhelmed and stressed?
What is your energy level?
Is there something in your mind bothering you? Work, family, finances, for example?

Take the time to go beyond the surface of the issue.

Yes, there’s chaos and it’s there because of the clutter. However, clutter generally originates much deeper than what meets the eyes.

Discover the role #chaos plays in your overall #health. #coaching Click To Tweet

How To Organize Your Living And Enjoy a Clutter-Free Life

by Debbie Rodrigues | Jun 16, 2016 | Organization

If you struggle with decluttering like I used to, learn how you can also organize your living and enjoy life with life with less stress.

My journey to an organized life, free from clutter, started some years ago. There were times when things didn’t move fast enough, but progress was steady.

A place for everything, everything in its place. - Benjamin Franklin #quoteoftheday Click To Tweet

My start

Despite the ups and downs, I was on cloud nine when I managed to declutter and organize the living room for good. What a relief it was!

I am not exactly proud of writing this but since it is for accountability, I have nothing to hide.

Read also these posts about organization:

Before I had a lot of stuff lying around. When a new letter arrived, for example, I opened it, read it and left it on the table. More than once, I only threw the empty envelope away days later. If it was something to pay, I would pay the bill and leave it there.

There were times when the table was so full that one had no place to eat. And it was all my fault since my boyfriend is an incredibly organized person.

Maintenance phase and going forward

But now it is all in the past.

As you can see, there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. I am still indecisive about how to label the letter trays, but it will come soon.

For the small TV table, I may get a basket to make cleaning easier, but it is not something I have totally decided yet. My major concern is to avoid creating clutter again. Maintenance is a reality and there is no reason to mess it up again.

Chaos doesn't happen in one day. Neither does organization. #getorganized #coaching Click To Tweet

The same way as the living room wasn’t turned into chaos in one day, it was also a slow process to get things on track. But by the time I decided to write this email, it had been like this clean and organized for long enough for me to celebrate and move forward to the next challenge.

One of the decisions I made was to place more of my things into a storage. I am still getting rid of a lot of stuff, but there are also the ones I want to keep for later, for example, winter clothes.

Guess what? I cannot afford a brand new wardrobe each season and it probably doesn’t surprise you.

However, since we live in a (small) apartment, we don’t have room for a dresser. I have been squeezing my work, home, and gym outfits in the place that I had, but it was not optimal. Not only there is not enough room, but it was simply impossible to keep the closet organized.

Be selective with organization tools and use them wisely. #getorganized #coaching Click To Tweet

I have this big dream of organizing all my outfits per color. The ones on hangers are already sorted this way, but not the entire closet yet. Anyways, I was really looking forward having a sustainable structure.

The issue so far has been a more a matter of maintaining than organizing.

For now, I am making room for a better organization.

Stream I did right after getting home from my first trip to #Ikea by myself. I don’t only look tired, I was beat.More about the things I bought tomorrow on my blog.#stream #Periscope #live #shopping #black #cat #organize

Posted by Debbie Rodrigues on Monday, July 13, 2015

I love IKEA. I know you cannot get exclusives there, but they have what I like for a price I can afford.

Even though I do a lot of planning before leaving home, I always get a couple extra things at the end. No, no clutter. I absolutely use everything I get from there.

One example is Raskog. I have been in love with it for so long and now I finally have one my own.

It has become my mobile office. I did organize our home office so that I have a fixed place to work, but having the option to work elsewhere when creativity is low is awesome.

It doesn’t always have to be at a coffee shop, does it?

I’m loving my mobile office. It’s like a dream that came through. I have a Raskog!!!! #IKEA #raskog #chart #green #love #macbook #pens #planner #stickers #glasses #water #pencils #folder #mouse #mousepad #lamp #baskets #tray #gray #white #sweet #instamood #cool #mobile #office #fun #everywhere

A photo posted by Debbie Rodrigues (@debbieinshape) on Jul 8, 2015 at 10:25am PDT

Among the items I wanted to buy as well were 2 SAMLAs. I got the boxes, lids and a pack of clips. In one of them, I placed my winter outfits and in the other wool and fabric from my DIY and crafts times.

When I attended sewing lessons, I built up a stock of everything sewing and knitting. Throwing it all away is not an option, but leaving everything together with stuff I need on a daily basis is not practical either.

Decluttering and organizing has been a great experience for me.

It is not only about getting things into place. To be sincere, it’s about overcoming a major personal block. It is not just the looks, it is mainly about setting a goal and working towards its success.

If you also struggle with organization and decluttering (or maybe cleaning), check these great tips from MAA Center. Whether or not you get started in spring, keep it simple and safe.

Have you used any of these tips to organize your living room?

For Holistic Health tips read also:

Please check the list of link parties I join here.

How to Design Your Kitchen to Eat Healthier

by Megan Wild | Feb 29, 2016 | Organization

You can eat healthier by transforming your kitchen into a supporting environment. Here’s how you can do it.

A guest blog by Megan Wild.

This time of year, many of us are accepting defeat at the hands of our New Year’s Resolutions. We are far enough into the year that promises of losing 10 pounds, eating healthier food and finally feeling like our best selves are nearly forgotten or ignored.

Sometimes our goals, whether we called them New Year’s Resolutions or not, are too vague to be successful. For example, “eating healthy” and “losing weight” are laudable aims, but without an action plan, we set ourselves up for failure. What is one relatively simple, actionable goal we can set to help achieve a healthier lifestyle? Redesign the kitchen to eat healthier.

Eat healthier by transforming your kitchen into a supporting environment. by @Megan_Wild Click To Tweet

The two-fold keys to losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle are well-known and widely accepted: eating well and exercising regularly. However, following these simple steps in your kitchen can also lead to a healthier lifestyle.

Organize Your Fridge and Pantry

The first step to a healthy kitchen is to know what you are working with. Take your fridge and freezer shelf-by-shelf, tossing expired food and cleaning off the surfaces. Do the same with the pantry — items that are close to their expiration date, or that you know you will never use, can be donated to your local food pantry. Toss expired items.

Decluttering is your first step to eating healthier. A study by Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab shows that that those in a well-organized, clean kitchen are less likely to snack than those who face a cluttered, messy kitchen every day.

This can also be a money-saving tip: Once you’re organized, you won’t buy items that you already had and just couldn’t see in your messy pantry or fridge.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

I’ll be honest, when I’m hungry and I see food out in the open, I’m practically a goner right then. I’m not even sure if a crash gate could hold me back, and they have some serious steel reinforcement going on. While you probably won’t have to go to such extremes to restrain yourself, the line of thought, similar to installing an actual gate still is, “What can I visually do to deter any problems?”

Perhaps the most effective step you can take to achieve healthy kitchen design is to hide the treats from yourself! If you leave out a bowl of candy or a package of cookies, you’ll probably eat them. If you leave out a bowl of apples, you’ll probably eat them.

Ditch the candy bowl for a fruit bowl and make it the centerpiece of your counter or kitchen table. In fact, a study shows that if you leave a fruit bowl out on your kitchen counter, you’ll weight 13 pounds less than those who don’t. Choose to leave cereal out, and you’ll weigh 20 pounds more than those who don’t. Turns out seeing is believing when it comes to healthy eating.

Check How to Design Your Kitchen to #Eat #Healthier a #guestblog by @Megan_Wild. Click To Tweet

Size (of Plates) Does Matter

If you’ve inherited a set of dishes from grandma, you might have noticed that they look small. That’s because the size of the plates from which Americans eat has grown over the years, along with our waistlines. This is bad news for those aiming to eat healthier.

Why? The so-called “Smaller Plate Study” shows that people will serve — and eat — more food on a larger plate. Why not use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate for your main course? You’ll still be a member of the clean plate club without feeling the weight of the extra calories.

Plate Before Serving

While we are talking about plates, another healthy habit is to put the food on your plate before you sit down to the table. Instead of serving your food family-style in large bowls or platters on the table, portioning out the food prior to sitting down will ensure there isn’t a smorgasbord before you to pick off of after you’ve cleaned your plate.

Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint

If you’ve been itching for a mini-remodel of your kitchen, you can do it in the name of healthy eating. Calming colors like gray and blue have been shown to act as an appetite suppressant. Not interested in painting? You could replace the light bulbs in your kitchen and fridge with blue-tinted bulbs for the same effect.

Why do these colors work? Some say it’s because blue isn’t a color that typically appears in our food, so we have a natural aversion to eating when we see blue.

Remember to be #mindful when eating your meals. by @Megan_Wild #HolisticHealth Click To Tweet

Unplug Before You Dig In

Think about the last time you queued up whatever your Netflix binge of the moment is and walked into the kitchen for a snack. A bag of popcorn, a couple of cookies and a soda later, you might not even realize what you’ve eaten because you’ve been focused on House of Cards or Making a Murderer.

Mindless eating is the enemy to healthy living, so turning off the TV, leaving your phone in the living room and banning the iPad at the kitchen table is crucial if you want to eat healthier.

Counting calories and sticking to an exercise regime are weight loss strategies for the most disciplined people. Organizing the pantry and fridge, leaving out fresh snacks like fruit, and ridding your kitchen of distractions are a few easy home furnishing changes. By designing your kitchen to be a space for healthy eating, you can set yourself up for success without having to count a single calorie.

For more holistic home organization tips read also:

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