Search Results
34 items found
- Tips to Organize A New Year Reset
Hello 2025! Are you ready? Do you realize we are now a quarter of the way through the 21st century!? This is your life! Let’s get on it, folks! Here are 5 things you can do to set yourself up for a satisfying and accomplished new year that goes by fast and goes by better. Tip #1 - Merge holiday gifts into what you already own Gather and sort all the gifts, toys, and stocking stuffers you received over the holidays. Friends, family, even employers can be generous, and t hat is a wonderful thing, but that generosity can have unintended consequences. Incorporating all those things into your existing belongings can be overwhelming and make you f eel crowded. Start by ensuring that what you keep are things you really want. Not everything you receive serves a purpose in your life. Some of the things served their purpose by bringing joy to the giver. Do not feel obligated to hold on to everything people gave you. That said, a landfill is not the best place to keep things either. Find some donation locations in your local area, or re-gift items that do not serve you or your household. If you need help locating donation centers, let me know. This is a passion of mine. Tip #2 - Purge some of what you already own Do not just add new things to the existing pile. You may have received some newer versions of things you already hav e. Reduce the pile while incorporating some of the new. Use this opportunity to eliminate some number of items you already have. If you have 25 shirts, see if you can get it down to 20. If you hav e 15 vases, see if you can get it down to 12. If your kids have countless toys, donate the ones they might have outgrown or that they simply don’t play with anymore. The 80/20 Rule applies to all things: your wardrobe, general belongings, toys. People use only routinely use about 20% of the things they own. This is great to do now but is also great throughout the year. Every time you get a new one of something, get rid of one. (This is the One-In-One-Out Rule.) Tip #3 - Reorganize your holiday decor when you put it away As you break down and put away your seasonal décor, take time to sort through it holistically and get rid of things you might not love so much. There can be a lot of sentimentality to holiday decorations, but it is also a category that easily can expand beyond the number of totes and boxes you can reasonably store in your home. This can be a painful category to reduce because your home can become the repository of all the family keepsakes and you feel obligated to hold on to them all. But I gently suggest that your departed loved ones might prefer you keep only those items you truly treasure and then treat those with respect and reverence rather than losing them in an ocean of artwork and broken ornaments from your childhood tree. But I understand. It can be painful. If you are struggling with that, reach out to me and we can talk it through. A bonus of this process is that it sets you up for easy decorating next year – and the endorphin rush of discovering that you were so very smart and effective this year! Tip #4 - Aim to complete 3 Big Tasks Per Day This Year Plan ahead. Choose three big outcomes you need to accomplish each day to make progress on your weekly or longer-term goals. It will come as no surprise that if you let yours or someone else's "emergencies" take over your day, you get swamped by things that are not necessarily important. You’ll never accomp lish what really matters that way. Many of us start our days with a lengthy To Do list. It’s not uncommon for people to have 15 to 20 things they want to accomplish in a day, and then when they don’t get them done those same things roll over to the next day, or week, or just languish on the list developing your feelings of guilt or failure. This is no way to live. Listing only three tasks for an entire workday may feel like a cop-out, but it requires more effort and discipline to look at the twelve things you could do and zero in on the three things you really need to do because they really matter . With this newfound clarity on what is and isn’t a real priority, your days will no longer be held captive by an unreasonably long list of tasks. So this year, try picking your 3 most important tasks each day and do those first. Allow yourself to focus on what really deserves priority. "A good system shortens the road to the goal." - Orison Swett Marden Tip #5 - Aim for progress, not perfection. Finally, remembe r that progress is always better than perfection. Being a recovering perfectionist myself, I can tell you that letting go of the pressure to keep things just the way I want them has led to so much more richness and color in my life and much better productivity. Perfect is the enemy of the good and it can lead to stopping you from doing anything at all – which is worse! Here's to a great new year! 2025 is going by quickly! It will happen fast. So give it a good start and develop some good habits. Like I said before, this is your life. Get to it! When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- The 3-2-1s of Digital Photos
How Not To Lose Digital Photos Do you have a plan to protect your digital photos and videos? Where are your photos and videos stored and are they useable? Memories captured in photos and videos are irreplaceable. How can you be sure not to lose them? Use the 3-2-1s of digital photos. What is that? The concept itself is pretty simple. · Have your photos and videos backed up in 3 separate locations, · Stored on 2 different types media, · With at least 1 copy off-site, away from the others. This is not something I invented; it has been around for years. (A huge proponent and photography industry expert worth exploring is Peter Krogh who wrote the quintessential manual on digital asset management, called The DAM book .) In short, if you have 3 separate copies and experience a catastrophic failure – a fried hard drive, a natural disaster, an online service that unexpectedly deletes your content (looking at you, Shutterfly ) – then you don’t lose those memories. The 3-2-1s of digital photos can save a lot of heartache. And how do you actually do this? Do it in two steps. First step in the 3-2-1s Decide on what type of media you want to use. Older media types should not be options. VHS tapes, cassette tapes, film reels, DVDs, and floppy drives are obsolete and don't count. They're degrading as we speak. Upgrade your storage to modern technology. Also, to be clear, the idea is to make identical, separate copies so that you can retrieve your files when a device fails. Because they will. Remember, the typical lifespan of an external hard drive is 5 years . I went in to some detail on this here . Here are some examples setups: 1. Apple Photos backed up to iCloud 2. FOREVER (private, permanent, secure in one-time payment, forever) 3. External hard drive 1. Apple Photos backed up to iCloud 2. External hard drive 3. External hard drive 1. OneDrive 2. Amazon Photos 3. External hard drive Call me to discuss options. They all have pluses and minuses. Second step in the 3-2-1s Follow through on your plan. This may be the hardest part. Just do it! Make sure to account for maintenance. Once you make copies, set a schedule to review and update your copies with new photo additions as time continues. For some platforms this is automatic; for others, it is not. Call me if you need help. Understand the 3-2-1s fine print Please understand what is meant by “backup”. Backing up files means copying and archiving them to be used to restore the original if ever needed. This is very different from syncing files. I talked about that here . Don’t “backup” files to a cloud drive and choose syncing as your sole measure. Because syncing means creating two identical copies that update back and forth. Update drive A, drive B automatically updates. If you delete a file on drive A, it disappears from drive B. This is the single most devastating thing I have experienced yet with photo management. A client discovered that what they thought was a backup was really a sync, and their changes wiped out the only other copy. This is not the right choice for a family photo collection. Instead, make a copy , a literal second and third copy . For example, select all files in a directory and copy them to another drive. There should be no link between them. If you change something in drive A it will not be reflected in drive B. There are many available options for you to backup your photo collection. If you need advice on deciding how to proceed, I can help . When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Are Routines Good or Bad?
Are routines just monotonous? Or are they valuable? Setting useful routines ensures important things get done every day. Call them rituals, behaviors, or habits, good routines support good physical and mental health, strengthen an organized household, and ensure that important things do not get missed. But they can also drift into rote behaviors, or mechanical, unthinking actions. If you do the same things again and again in the same order, is that valuable? Or could you be in a rut? Like learning a new language by memorizing vocabulary lists, rigidly following a routine without pausing to consider effectiveness is not useful. You'll never achieve goals if you keep doing the same unproductive things again and again. So how do you know when a routine has become a rut? And when does clinging to a routine provide stability – or become a crutch? Alarm clock sitting on a shelf by a yellow wall What is a Routine? A routine is a series of habits you do to achieve some goal or set of goals. A healthy routine frees up the mental energy required to make a lot of small decisions. Once a routine truly becomes a habit, you can go on autopilot and achieve goals without constant decision-making about what to do next. Paradoxically, a good routine gives you freedom. But an unhealthy routine can slow you down. Relaxing by watching television every night for hours can leave you tired the next day. In a community group, doing things the same way you did them 5 years ago leads ineffective programming. Routines that are no longer refreshing, encouraging, and ultimately aligned with goals are not helpful. Is this routine good or bad? So how can you tell if a routine is worth it? Answer Yes or No to the following questions: Does it provide stability and predictability in a season of your life when that is missing? Does it promote your overall health and wellness? Does it protect you from other self-destructive habits? Does it provide space for creativity and fresh ideas while helping meet your ultimate goals? Does it support balance between work, home, play, and self-care? If you answered no to any of these, consider changing it up. Even good and healthy routines can and should be refreshed periodically. Consider disrupting bad routines - or ditching them altogether for something new. It's your routine. Change it up however you like. You don’t need to wait until a new quarter or a new year to consciously make changes that will support your overall well-being. Examine what you're doing and see if you can make improvements. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- What is Hoarding?
Are you a hoarder? Probably not. "Hoarding" is a term thrown around loosely these days, thanks to some popular media shows and our propensity as a society to rubberneck. Anyone who has a cluttered home or keeps too much of something a “hoarder”. “I'm so ashamed. Try not to look at all my junk. I’m such a hoarder." or “My mother hoards food. She keeps too much.” or “Everyone hoarded toilet paper during the pandemic.” But that isn't hoarding. A rundown camper in a field surrounded by clutter and what some might call "garbage" Hoarding disorder is NOT experiencing clutter or keeping too much of something. Hoarding disorder is a medical diagnosis defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as “persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value” according to their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5 . There is a diagnostic set of criteria that must be met and individuals diagnosed with it are suffering . Three types of disorganization First, let's back up and look at some definitions. There are three main types of disorganization. As I discussed here , situational disorganization i s an event, series of events, or change in your life leading you to be disorganized in some area of your life for some period. We all face situational disorganization sometimes, including me. Moving into a new home, hosting holiday events, and adjusting to new routines at the beginning of a new school year are all examples of times when you may experience temporary chaos in your space. This is normal and can be fairly easily overcome. Second, there is chronic disorganization . Judith Kolberg in her book What Every Professional Organizer Needs to Know About Chronic Disorganization describes three key features of chronic disorganization: Chronic, severe disorganization that has persisted over a long period of time, often the majority of one’s adult life, and is prone to continuing into the future. Disorganization that undermines one’s quality of life on a daily basis. A history of failed self-help efforts. A lot of people experience chronic disorganization for a variety of reasons including ADHD diagnoses or never learning how to organize things. There are defined strategies and techniques that can be used to help someone overcome this type of disorganization. Finally, there is hoarding . What is hoarding? There is a professional society dedicated to the study of chronic disorganization: The Institute for Challenging Disorganization , or ICD®. ICD® provides education, research, and strategies to benefit people challenged by chronic disorganization. ICD® developed the Clutter-Hoarding Scale® . This is what you hear referenced on television shows like Hoarders on A&E when they say “This is a Level 5 hoard!” That means it is the worst of the worst. That makes for good television ratings. But what you are watching is someone suffering from a mental disorder. This is why a psychologist is always included in the work on the show. Remember, hoarding disorder is listed in the DSM-5. Without specialist training an individual can do real harm to a person suffering from hoarding disorder by just throwing away their things. Hoarding is terribly hard, and highly defined, and not your garden-variety disorganization. If you suspect that you or someone you know suffers from hoarding disorder, reach out for help. But truth be told, oftentimes it is not someone asking for help but rather circumstances that determine when hoarding gets addressed. Organization is a skill that can be learned The good news is that for most people under normal circumstances organization is a skill that can be learned. Just like housekeeping, or driving a car, or changing a tire, people are not born knowing how to organize. If you have not learned, why should you expect yourself to know? This is a lot of the work that I do - teaching people how to store and keep their belongings. I am not a specialist in chronic disorganization or hoarding disorder, and have trusted colleagues to whom I will refer cases. Bottom line, if you or a loved one suffer from situational disorganization, chronic disorganization, or hoarding disorder, reach out. There is help available. You are not alone. There are skilled experts available to help improve your life. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Are Popular Television Organizing Shows Realistic?
How RETHINK works differently than TV The first organizing show I remember was Clean Sweep on TLC. Organizer Peter Walsh made an impression and introduced professional organizing to me as a career. I liked the “Keep”, “Sell”, or “Toss” decisiveness of their decluttering process. Then there is Hoarders on A&E which features people with hoarding disorder . Hoarding disorder causes sufferers to excessively and obsessively save things that other people generally see as trash. Hoarders have difficulty parting with or throwing anything away, which leads to overwhelming clutter that disrupts their lives. You can do real harm if you try to help people suffering from hoarding disorder by just throwing things away. You need proper training and assistance from medical professionals. Another offering is the Netflix original series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo . I read Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up before watching. She works directly with clients, implementing her signature “keep it only if it sparks joy” methodology, and it is enormously satisfying to observe. She is exceedingly kind to her clients and has a very deliberate, structured, and effective process. Netflix also has Getting Organized with The Home Edit . Hosts Joanna Teplin and Clea Shearer own a home organizing company based in Nashville, TN. They simply buzz with energy. Their signature organization technique is placing things in rainbow color order in clear acrylic bins. Their team works without the clients. They move quickly, transforming cluttered disorder into beautiful, colorful displays in 30 minutes. Does RETHINK work like television? The short answer is no. I am an organizer and I do not play one on TV. Organizing shows can be enormously satisfying to watch. A homeowner is struggling with some seemingly insurmountable pile of clutter. In 30 to 60 minutes you uncover the situation, an expert weighs in, work gets done, and the problem is solved. These shows have a tremendous following. I am in a Facebook group called The Home Edit Life Book and Netflix Show with 42,000+ members all devoted to arranging their homes into rainbow color order in clear plastic containers with special labels. I have my own preferences on how to help you. Put simply, I believe there is no one right way to organize anything. I meet you where you are. You are not a mess, you can get organized, you already have within you what you need, and I am here to come alongside and help. The best organizing method is the one that works and that you'll use. How will RETHINK work with you? I will not send you away while I magically organize your space. There are organizers that do this in real life and this is a key element of The Home Edit . I on the other hand believe clients feel better about what they themselves have created and working together leads to better ongoing results. Working with an organizer transfers skills and knowledge, provides encouragement, and leads to pride of ownership in what you did for yourself. My advice is to work with someone who will teach you how to maintain your space. I will not encourage you to purchase containers to put things in. I will not start by telling you what you need to buy. We'll start by using the things you already have in your home. I actually tell you not to buy anything at all - at least not until we have really dug into what you have and determined that you actually need it. Again, there are organizers that do this, but I think “shopping” what you already have is more satisfying and cost effective and better for the earth. (Reduce, reuse, recycle!) I will never tell you to throw anything away. On Clean Sweep , the setup was two competing household members (generally spouses) have to outsell each other at a yard sale. The loser of the competition has to give up an item from their “Keep” category. This makes for terrific drama and tension onscreen but makes for horrible interpersonal relations at home. Your belongings are your belongings and you are entitled to keep them. Consider parting with duplicates, broken items, or pare down what you have so you can have more space. But you should never feel forced, cajoled, or shamed into parting with anything. Sensible storage is important . One of the key – and visually appealing – elements of The Home Edit strategy is to store everything in rainbow color order. Books, clothes, art supplies, home cleaning products. It is one of their signature strategies. This is just not practical. Take books, for example. If you want to read a certain book, in their system you have to know what color it is. How would you ever know? A more practical way to store books is in alphabetical order by author’s last name. Same with housecleaning products. Store home supplies by use: floor cleaners, bathroom supplies, dishwashing materials, dusting cloths. Do not store by the color of their labels. Storing items by color means you have to mentally process what each item is before retrieving it, and that ultimately lessens productivity and ease of use. You do not live in a magazine and you need to be able to find your belongings. Reality organizing television shows are not reality In real life, sadly, there is no magic wand. In all of these organizing shows, we only see a tiny fraction of the work. The time lapse from beginning to end is significant. In real life, it can take hours or days to complete a project depending on what you need to do. On television, there are unseen teams of people scurrying to complete the work off camera. Unless you want to spend a fortune, this is unrealistic and unfair to expect of yourself - or your organizer! Just like fashion and beauty magazines that mess with your self-esteem by using airbrushing and Photoshop, these shows – while satisfying and lovely – can lead to unrealistic expectations. So my advice is to enjoy them. Watch to learn your preferences and get ideas. Feel free to discuss these with your organizer, and ask questions. But leave the judgment and unrealistic expectations at the curb. You've already got what you need in your own space. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Is Photo Organizing Worth It? 5 Reasons You Can't Ignore
Did you know we collectively took more than 1.6 trillion digital photos in 2023? According to Rise Above Research this 7.5% increase over 2022 was driven by the popularity of smartphones. Our camera reels can be overwhelming! Maybe you also have boxes of memorabilia, old photos of family, and disorganized snapshots in shoeboxes. Maybe it all feels overwhelming, but I assure it it is still worth doing. If you don't, you run the risk of it all going in a landfill someday. 👀 Need some more encouragement to tackle this project? Here are 5 reasons to do it! 1. Ease of access Have you ever tried to find a particular photo on your phone? Maybe of a certain person or location that you can't remember? When photos are organized in boxes or on phones, it's easier to find specific pictures quickly. You can quickly search for the image you need, and it's right there at your fingertips. I recently helped a client quickly organize a small portion of a lifetime of photos to display at her daughter's wedding. Unfortunately, time was short with a hard deadline. In the end there were a few she had in mind we simply could not find. 2. Preservation When photos and other valuable hard copy memorabilia are organized in archival quality boxes, they are protected from dust, moisture, and other elements that could cause damage. Similarly, when photos are organized on phones or digital devices, they can be appropriately backed up, which ensures that they won't be lost due to damage to the physical storage device. Many people back up everything but that isn't sustainable with 1.6 trillion additional photos. And many photo sites like Shutterfly and Ponga are are discontinuing long-term storage. Make no mistake, unlimited long-term storage will not be free or easy from now on. 3. Space-saving Organizing photos in boxes or on phones is an excellent way to save space, both digital and physical. Sorting and eliminating duplicates, blurries, poor shots, and photos of unknown people can free up valuable space. Instead of multiple photo albums or physical boxes of photos taking up space, you can keep everything in one place. And paying for ever-increasing server space (when companies are beginning to stop storing endless amounts for free - see Shutterfly , Ponga , Google , and Amazon ) cannot last. There are solutions. Take time to stop and explore them to find what works for you. 4. Sharing with Others It's easier to share photos with others when they are stored meaningfully on your phone or digital device. You can quickly send them via email, text message, or social media. Similarly, you can share physical photos with others by digitizing the very best ones. In this way, extended family members can enjoy legacy photo collections together Sharing the joy of the photos you've found is worth all the effort. 5. Preserve the Memories Organizing photos in boxes or on phones is a great way to preserve memories. By keeping everything in one place, you can easily look back at your photos and remember special moments from your life. The memories are what makes the photos worth anything! Photo Organizing is worth it This may feel overwhelming but I encourage you to start. Don't delay until photos become moldy, are lost in a flood or fire, or get thrown away during a move. That said, take it slow, do not stress, and go one item at a time. Breathe. Have some water to drink nearby. Be prepared for this to take some time. It likely took you (or someone you love) a lifetime to gather these photos; you won’t finish sorting them in one afternoon or even one weekend. But if you keep at it, it will get done. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- A Guide to Tidying Your Home
Refresh your home using this guide when you have only a few minutes -- or some extra time. The changing of seasons from summer to fall can mean spending more time indoors after spending a lot of time outside or away. This means looking at your indoor space.👀 Does it feel a bit out of control? Here is a guide to help your whole house feel more peaceful in a short time. While cleaning is not necessarily organizing, the two are linked. By doing one, you're doing the other. Sometimes, becoming organized comes from a good cleaning. Tidying Your Home One Room at a Time Below, I list each major space found in a standard home. In each case, I start with my favorite "Quick Tidy" tips . If you're in a rush, they're a quick win. Then, if you have more time and feel like it, "More Cleaning" tips provide a deeper clean. You don't have to do these all at once, or indeed on any schedule at all. Take it room by room and see how your house changes. Top Tip #1 : Always work top to bottom, left to right around any given space. If you're feeling overwhelmed just focus on that. Top to bottom; left to right. Entryway and Hallways Tidy The entryway is the first space people see when entering your home and can set the tone for everyplace else. The hallways are pass-throughs and can collect junk. Both deserve a little attention. Top Tip #2 : Establish a no-shoes-in-the-house rule to help keep the whole house more clean. Quick Tidy for the Entryway and Hallways Take things where they belong. These spaces are notorious drop zones, collecting the tidbits that are en route elsewhere. Take those dropped things where they belong now, or put them in a container to distribute later. Corral the shoes and coats/jackets. Set a house rule of no more than 2 jackets and 2 pairs of shoes per person allowed in the front hall. Keep footwear on a boot tray, bin, or rack and keep the rest in bedrooms or closets. Sort paperwork. Process any mail. Recycle any junk mail, open envelopes, set aside bills to be paid, etc. Wipe down the baseboards. Shake out rugs. Sweep the floor. More Cleaning for the Entryway and Hallways Use disinfectant wipes or spray on doorknobs and handles. Wipe mirrors and pictures with glass cleaner to remove dust and fingerprints. Wash floor rugs, or replace if very worn. Mop the floor. Use floor mop to wipe down walls and doors, particularly low to the ground where dust and dirt can accumulate. Sort out coat closets. Reduce coats to those that fit and you need; throw away junk; sort gloves/hats/scarves. Dust and wipe all light fixtures. Kitchen Tidy The kitchen is the heart of the home. This is where guests inevitably gather, but more importantly it is where you and your family spend time every single day. Top Tip #3 : Do the kitchen Quick Tidy tasks every day to help the whole house feel more fresh. Quick Tidy for the Kitchen Empty the dish rack and/or dishwasher. Reload the dishwasher and wash any hand dishes. Wipe down the counters with a spray and a microfiber cloth. Sweep the floor with a broom or a vacuum. Set out fresh towels and put the dirties in the laundry. Take out the trash and empty the recycling when needed. Clear the countertops of clutter. Take things to where they belong in the house, and throw away junk. Once a week, clean the stove top (and wipe up spills as they happen!) More Cleaning for the Kitchen Use disinfectant wipes or spray on doorknobs and handles. Wipe down appliance fronts. Get rid of old or spoiled food. For a deep clean of the fridge, empty the contents and wash each shelf or tray, then replace unexpired items. Wipe any glass-front cabinets with glass cleaner. Wipe cabinet fronts with warm water and a cloth. Wash floor rugs, or replace if very worn. Microwave a cup of water with a squirt of lemon juice for 5 minutes, then wipe down the interior. (The steam will loosen grime from inside the microwave.) Run lemon or orange peels in the garbage disposal. Clean the filter in the dishwasher and then run it empty with only a cup of vinegar in a mug on the bottom rack. Add the sink stopper in the utensil tray along with any sponges for a disinfecting clean. Dust and wipe all light fixtures. Family (or Living) Room Tidy This is a space where you spend a lot of time with your family. Give it some love. Quick Tidy for the Family Room Fold blankets and fluff pillows. Take dishes to the kitchen. Clear off the coffee table and side tables. More Cleaning for the Family Room Wipe down electronic screens with electronic-safe materials. Wipe down end tables and coffee tables with a damp cloth. Vacuum under the sofa cushions and sofas. Schedule time to tackle larger projects in blocks. For example, thinning out the books on shelves, going through the china cabinet and minimizing what you keep, photo collections sorting, etc. Top Tip #4 : Do the family room Quick Tidy tasks frequently. Not necessarily every day, but having this space uncluttered makes the house feel larger and more clear. Dining Room Tidy The dining room table can be a drop zone. The things you don't know what to do with get dropped here to deal with later. But it is also a great place to gather with friends and extended family, so if left untidy frequently stops you from inviting others over. Try to give it a weekly quick tidy to get ahead of it so you can use it more easily. Quick Tidy for the Dining Room Put away the stuff. Distribute things that don't belong to where they belong. Take any dishes to the kitchen. Replace the tablecloth or placemats if you use them, and place an attractive centerpiece in the center of the table. Run a vacuum or broom over the floor. More Cleaning for the Dining Room Wipe chairs and table legs with a damp cloth. Clean and dust the light fixtures. Clean chairs or other cloth-covered seating. Dust or wash window coverings. Wipe mirrors and pictures with glass cleaner to remove dust and fingerprints. Bedroom Tidy Your bedroom is a private space that guests will rarely see. But you have to see it every day, and if it is cluttered and unpleasant it can affect your sleep and overall mood. It is worth it to keep this space tidy. Quick Tidy for the Bedrooms Make your bed. Every day, at least pull the blanket or sheet up and fluff the pillows. Gather dirty laundry in a basket. Run a cloth over surfaces to remove dust. And don't put back down anything that doesn't belong in the room. Take things where they belong. Run the vacuum or sweep the floor. More Cleaning for the Bedrooms Change the sheets and blankets. Wipe down furniture with a damp cloth. Vacuum under the bed and furniture. Go through your wardrobe and get rid of worn or torn clothing. Wipe mirrors and pictures with glass cleaner to remove dust and fingerprints. Clean and dust the light fixtures. Run the vacuum or sweep the floor. Top Tip #5 : Make your bed every day right when you get out of it. This really sets your day off right. Bathroom Tidy The bathroom is definitely private. But it is also a space guests will have to use at some point and while they are in there, you don't want them to find things you'd rather they not see. It is also a space you use every single day, and you deserve a clean and tidy space for your private time. So give it a few minutes while tidying your home. Quick Tidy for the Bathroom Wipe out the sink. Use a disinfectant wipe on the faucet handles and light switch. Use toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet bowl and wipe the seat and handle with a disinfectant wipe. Empty the trash. Shake out rugs and give the floor a quick sweep. Put out fresh towels. More Cleaning for the Bathroom Clean the sink thoroughly with disinfectant cleaner. Wipe down the vanity or pedestal sink legs. Clean the toilet bowl and wipe down the toilet itself with disinfectant all over. Scrub out the tub and tub walls. Wipe down the shower head and clear any blocked spray nozzles. Wash the shower curtain and liner, or squeegee the glass shower surround with cleaner. Empty the trash. Wash out the trash can and dry. Mop the floor. Wash the rugs. Put out fresh towels. I hope you found these tips useful. Whether you only have the time or interest to do a Quick Tidy in one room, or the desire to do More Cleaning in all your rooms, I hope these tips offer refreshment. What did I miss? What things would you add or remove from these lists? Drop me a line below. I'd love to hear from you. Remember, there is no schedule here. This is your home. It deserves some time and effort, but there are no organizing police waiting to come in and tell you you're doing it wrong. Take it room by room and see how your house changes. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- How I Got To Inbox Zero
And why it isn't necessarily something you need to do Sometime in August an empty email arrived. It was the weirdest thing. I couldn't open it. It seemingly had no content. When I clicked on it, it just jiggled. I tried everything to get rid of it but it was stuck. It was a little worrying (what if someone needed something?!) and more than a little annoying. When submitting a ticket to the Help Desk at Fastmail (the service I use to host my business account) I had to include a screenshot. But I didn't want my Inbox entries to be public knowledge - not even in a bland screenshot to my email provider. And I didn't want to "cheat" and just stuff my Inbox into a holding folder for the screenshot. So I took on the challenge. Could I empty my Inbox? It turns out I could. It took me a while, but I got it done. How to empty your Inbox The screenshot above is my actual Inbox right now. Well, except for the RETHINK logo. Fastmail give you a little cheer emoji when you reach Inbox Zero. It is a little reward for hard work! I have maintained Inbox Zero for about two weeks now. How did I do it? Even I cannot believe I got it done! More than anything else, I made decisions. I simply set out to do it and would not let myself skip any. I made phone calls to address long-standing questions. I created folders and deleted junk and filed attachments and answered questions. I started with about 70 total. Here are 4 things you can do to empty your Inbox. Answer the emails that you can. This feels self-evident but it might not be a surprise that people procrastinate even simple tasks. Just go ahead and answer simple emails. A co-worker told me years ago that all of business is simply an enormous game of tennis: our job is to lob the ball back over the net so the other person now has something to do. That's a bit cynical, but not altogether inaccurate! Answer the emails you can right away or set aside defined time to do so. File emails into intelligently-named folders. In the screenshot to the left, you'll see I have 5 main buckets: Business, Marketing, Learning, Clients, and Personal. They are named with 01, 02, etc. in front of them to ensure my preferred sorting. They are also color-coded. Inside are nested folders of topics and subjects that fall into these buckets. I keep all like things together and everything I need is easy to locate. I also have one folder called "@Actions & Meetings" which are the links to upcoming or recurring meetings, and any urgent matters that require an email. The other folders are defaults. Delete emails you do not need. This is another one that feels self-evident. But many people hold on to every email in a "CYA" (cover your "you-know-what") move in the corporate world. Maybe that is true for you, so do be careful. But truly, keeping every email that comes in just clutters your desktop, your folders, your disk space, and your servers. Delete emails you don't won't need again. Transfer To Do's to a task list. This is by far the most powerful change I made. For years I have told people not to use their Inbox as a To Do list, and all this time I was doing it myself! 🙃 Keeping an email in your Inbox to remind you to do something literally keeps clutter in your face at all times. Since my digital task manager (Microsoft To Do) is set up with priorities and such, I just zip over there to pick the next thing to do. No more getting distracted by the latest email. And all of my To Do's are in the same place. Go figure! Keeping same-things in only one place works! 😁 But is Inbox Zero necessary? The answer is no. This is not a goal that should be on your list for 2025. I will never advocate getting to Inbox Zero just to get to Inbox Zero. If you want to, sure. But this isn't a race and there is no one who is going to send you a Gold Star when you reach it. But that said, wow, has it reduced my mental load in what to do next. The biggest change this created for me is removing the questions and the overwhelm related to incoming digital information. Microsoft To Do is my only task list now. I choose when I want to check emails. I have also turned off all notifications so when new emails come in, I am not pinged, rattled, jostled, or shook when something arrives. There is nothing waiting for me in my Inbox that someone didn't send to me recently enough that I can gracefully not reply for at least a short bit. I realized - this is exactly what my clients feel when we find homes for all the things. I RETHINK'd myself! Let your Inbox serve you In the end, Fastmail IT support ran a script on my account that fixed the problem without incident. But the whole experiment changed the way I interact with my email. Despite all my best intentions it turns out I had been "letting the tail wag the dog" as the saying goes. My email Inbox is there to serve me, not the other way around. And so relegating it to it's proper place has been liberating. I am here if you need me, friends. I am happy to talk through strategies that help you lead a better and more fulfilling life at home and work. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- 5 Ways to Conquer your Inbox
Your Inbox can feel overwhelming. Don't let it. Is your email Inbox serving you? Or is it the other way around? Unless you purposely avoid it, you communicate digitally with other people daily in 2023. Email is one digital medium. There are also text messages, social media platforms, passwords, electronic documents, cloud servers, contact numbers, mailing addresses, and data security in our digital world. It is enough to frustrate the most tech savvy person. Today, let's tackle email. 5 ways to make your email Inbox work 1. Do not check email continuously and turn off notifications. I know. We are addicted. But checking your email interrupts your workflow and thus your productivity. Turn off all notifications. Email software clients have too many ways to interrupt you. Microsoft Outlook can, for example, audibly ping, change the cursor, place an envelope on the Task Bar, and jiggle a moving alert on the bottom right. All those together will interrupt your train of thought. Turn them off. Instead, check email at defined times and process them then. By process I mean respond, file, or calendarize. For exa mple, in the morning, at lunch, and 30 minutes before closing, check email, sort and file them, and block time on your calendar to complete needed Tasks. This is a huge adjustment for corporate culture. I understand. But what you lose in immediacy you gain in productivity. You decide when to check your email. Do not let it decide for you. 2. Build folders and Archive regularly. When you check your email, deal with the content you can right away, add required activities to your To Do/Action list or calendar, and then file those emails out of your Inbox or delete them. Build folders and nest subfolders. Keep the structure simple. File emails (consider using rules or filters) into relevant folders to keep emails of a specific topic or subject together. For example, my work email account has 5 folders: 01 Clients, 02 Business, 03 Marketing, 04 Learning, and 05 Personal. The numbers sort the folders in priority order. Then, there are subfolders under each. 02 Business contains Accounting, Insurance, IT, and Legal. Further, at the end of each day or week, empty your Sent folder emails into those same folders. In this way, conversations are preserved in their entirety. Finally, utilize the Archive function to control the size of your mailbox. Consider Archiving annually and start the year with a clean, rebuilt file structure. That way it continues to be relevant for you. I spent a lifetime in corporate and so am accustomed to keeping all emails to, frankly, CYA. However, that makes for enormous Archive folders that rarely if ever get referenced. You know your business. Only keep the emails you need and let the rest go. 3. Don’t use your Inbox as your To Do list. Do not keep emails in your Inbox to remind you what to do. Emails multiply and it is hard to manage priority. There are colored flags and such, but that is a layer of complexity you don’t need. Keep your To Do/Action list elsewhere. There are myriad ways to record this: My Tasks in Outlook, Reminders in Apple, Tasks in Google. I personally use Microsoft To Do. Analysis of these is outside the scope of this article, but your Inbox is not the place to do it. 4. Keep your Work account separate from your Personal account. Whether you work in a large corporate firm or run your own business, keep your personal and business correspondence separate. There are many paperless billing options for utilities and banking and online shopping is ubiquitous. It may be tempting to register with your business account to keep things “simple”. On the contrary, it just blurs the lines between business and home. For one thing, you should never assume that your work emails are private if you work for anyone else. Should your employment situation change, this is something else to unravel. You may consider maintaining 2 accounts at home: 1 for finances, and 1 for online shopping. In this way you can track coupons and bargain codes without getting in the way of your mortgage payment. This last suggestion may be a step toward complexity, though, so proceed with caution. 5. Unsubscribe from mailing lists you do not need. At the bottom of every marketing email there is a link where you can Unsubscribe. Take the time to unsubscribe from emails you no longer need, read, or want. Some of them are easier to do than others. Oftentimes they want more information about why, or they want you to change frequency rather than cancel. Be ruthless. If you’re overwhelmed at the sheer number of marketing emails, set a goal. Unsubscribe from 3 a day. After a week you will have done 21, and that will make a difference in your Inbox. Bonus: Aim for progress, not perfection. An important thing to remember when changing how you manage email is that it does not have to change immediately. You also can’t really mess it up. Try things and see how it works. Rethink how you handle your email and stop doing what isn’t working. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Letting Go With Grace: How Swedish death cleaning can bring you joy
Be kind to yourself now and to those you'll leave behind Are your most precious things gathered into one place? Are they lost in a sea of other stuff? Will you leave your things behind or take them with you when you go? Let's discuss the potentially sobering but ultimately inspiring subject of planning what you leave behind for your loved ones when you’re gone. I just finished reading the book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter. The Swedish word döstädning is the compound of two Swedish words; dö is “death” and städning is “cleaning”. In English, the two words just got pushed together but there is no true English equivalent. Döstädning is not about cleaning up after a death, or even cleaning things to prepare to die. It is about crafting your life and legacy now so that what you leave behind is a reflection of who you really are. It is about making your life easier and less stressful now. And it is about being kind to those you leave behind by not burdening them with all of your things. Death cleaning is a joyful process Magnusson says this is not sad. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It can be fun to find old treasures and laugh over things you held on to and don't need now. Whether sorting heirlooms from junk, downsizing to smaller living, or making your daily life easier, döstädning is the opportunity to make your later years comfortable and stress-free. We are living longer lives, which of course means more time to collect more stuff. But it also means we have more time to get rid of things. We can plan ahead by slimming down what we leave behind – shedding unnecessary objects in favor of what we really need. My role model for Swedish death cleaning I was first introduced to the concept by my maternal grandmother, Barbara, though she never would have called it döstädning as she wasn't Swedish. Barbara lived in New Jersey and chose - on her own - to move to Ohio later in life to be near my mother. She wanted a simple move without a lot of fuss and cost. So she pared down her belongings. She donated things to Vietnam Vets and Salvation Army. She carted things to the recycling center and offered many items to friends and family. She kept useful and valuable items and she did not dally over her cheese servers and extra bedding. Barbara simplified and minimized. I also believe that she preferred the privacy of not having other people – even her most beloveds – go through her most precious things when she was gone. Döstädning And that brings me back to döstädning. Magnusson is radical and cheerful and, in her own words, somewhere between 80 and 100 years old. She is living through the process as she writes. Döstädning encourages proactive and mindful clearing of possessions to save relatives from making decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of when you're gone. There is heaviness in going through your things for those left behind. Questions arise. How can they know why you held on to this or that? Should it be kept? Or not? Would it hurt you to throw it away? In the book, there are items Magnusson wants to keep only for herself. Things that help her remember events that she may otherwise forget. Ticket stubs. Programs. Letters. So she creates a “Throw Away Box". A Throw Away Box contains items of value only to the owner. Magnusson's wish is for her children to simply throw the box away unopened when she dies. I am sitting with this idea. Honestly, I would be tempted to check the contents of the box when my loved one passes away. But I would also want to honor their wishes. You can't take it with you In reading this book, my takeaway is to reflect on what is really important to me. In the end, the adage “you can’t take it with you” is literally true. You can't take it with you. That said, just because you are growing older does not mean you have to get rid of your most precious things. None of us like to think about death. But you do not have to go very far to find someone today who is worried about clearing out their parents’ garage, or who is worrying about whether their kids or grandkids will want the antique sideboard. Döstädning is being kind to those you leave behind by leaving less for them to sort, less guesswork on what you meant, and less pain of sorting and sorting out. This is not a new topic and (ironically) it will never get old. Magnusson gives us a better way to approach our death, lighter and more free, without the baggage of things we just don't need. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today. Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create their optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Why You Should Unplug and Disconnect
How unplugging and disconnecting clears your mind A lesson on why to unplug Here is a lesson I learned this morning. I planned to write a blog this morning at a local coffee shop. Near their parking lot is a soccer field. Empty now during late winter, the field has a track running around it, perfect for my daily 20-minute walk. So I popped in my earbuds to listen to a podcast (Dan Harris's Ten Percent Happier where he explores the power of meditation) and started walking before heading into start writing. I thought I was doing well. Out for a walk in the sunshine, thinking about mindfulness. Aren't I healthy and good? As I walked, Dan chatted with his guest about quieting our thoughts, and I remembered Dr. Angela Gorrell’s lecture from the night before. The previous evening our family had attended a Teen Mental Health series talk on the topic of social media. Social media, according to Dr. Gorrell, is anything that connects us to others electronically. TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, email, texting, Fortnite, Roblox, podcasts. She discussed the good, the bad, and the actionable things we can do to monitor our use of social media. As I walked, it dawned on me that despite good intentions on a sunny, clear morning, I was still on social media. I was still in learning mode. I was working. My mind was busy. I was – dare I say – plugged in. So I took out my earbuds. Folks, the change was remarkable. Suddenly I noticed that 3 of the 4 soccer goal posts had nets, but the 4th was bare. What happened to the 4th net? There was a flock of fat robins gathered on a hillside, picking at the ground and visiting with each other quietly. I wondered if they were nesting. There was a path that led up to the nearby community center I hadn't noticed. There were patches of straw strewn on the ground, encouraging the grass seed beneath to stretch and grow in the spring sun. Folks, the lesson here was clear. In one lap, I was more present and more aware than any amount of listening to a podcast about meditation would ever provide. No shade to Dan Harris (and he’d very likely agree with me) but you cannot get the benefits of meditation without unplugging. We must unplug and disconnect to give our brains time to become aware of what is around us. Unplugging can clear your mind This is a blog about organizing. The thing is, the real key to being more organized is not a product you can buy or a technique you can learn. I wish that were the case. It would be so much easier. Being organized is a mindset. Clear your mind of clutter, wipe away the noise, and what you need to do becomes much more clear. Of course there are many positives of connecting online. There are things to learn, distant family to connect with, fashion and design and humor and music and joy to be had in online communities. And there are plenty of tips and techniques and tricks to learn from others that make your life more manageable and organized. It's what I do for a living. But there is also a WORLD out there, friends, waiting for us to wake up and pay attention. Every time we plug in – whether it's Facebook, listening to a podcast on a walk, or reading this blog – we are choosing to remain plugged in to the noise. And missing out on everything online is not bad. Don't give in to FOMO. It will still be there when you’re ready to plug back in. Unplug and enjoy the view Take a break and enjoy the space you’re in right now. When I unplugged, I saw what I had missed. And you can, too. I am here if you need me, friends. I am happy to talk through strategies that help you lead a better and more fulfilling life at home and work. In the meantime, go ahead. Unplug to clear your mind. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today. Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
- Why RETHINK organization LLC?
I have spent my whole life preparing to launch RETHINK organization. I have been doing this work since childhood. Now, armed with years of corporate and professional experience and a Masters degree in project management, I can handle large, complex projects. And I have the empathy and compassion to handle small, personal projects as well. I can help you tackle tough organization projects and my goal is to help you learn how. In 2018, after 20 years in the energy industry working many roles, including technical jobs, information, database, general, and project management roles, and in sales, I was worn down. I was tired of being driven by quarterly earnings and I wanted to use all those business skills to really help someone else. Our family were in a safe place financially so I resigned and took a part-time project management job at our church. I channeled energy and drive into a completely different kind of business. I loved that work and the people but even that was not enough. I remained restless. We all have stories of the 2020 springtime lockdown, and of how people retreated into their homes and were forced to slow down. It was scary and epic. But it provi ded an opportunity to pause, reflect, and refocus. And a lot of time to think. And to rethink . And that thinking led to the realization that the times in my life I have felt most alive and vital were when I was helping someone sort through or tackle challenges involving stuff. Some of those projects were fun . A childhood friend vividly remembers me coming to sleepovers at her house and cleaning out her dresser drawers. During COVID quarantine, I led the family through reorganizing our garage, laundry room, attic, and sunroom along with my home office. Some of those projects were hard . Some years ago I helped a family member go through a 4-drawer filing cabinet following their mother's death when they could not face sorting through the seemingly endless papers left behind. Some of those projects were professional . I established systems and coordinated the movement of a large file room of hard copy oil and gas assets during a major office re-location. I sorted and categorized thousands of files left behind following a major office financial impropriety while maintaining legal obligations for state and federal court proceedings. Some of those projects were sad . A neighbor experienced significant health issues and their family could not travel to be with them. So, I was able to help sort mail, clear out their refrigerator, and sort myriad medications to keep them safe. All of these projects brought me deep feelings of joy and peace. It is an honor and a privilege to enter someone’s life for a time to help them through a tough season. If I can do this for a living for the rest if my life, I will consider myself lucky. It may be fun. It may be hard. It may be professional. And it may be sad. It will all be fulfilling for me. When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how. Let's RETHINK organization together. For more information, visit the RETHINK website today . Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes. RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.