One girl on a mission to be organized..

Quick update

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post something new. My life has been going in quite a few different directions, which I love; however, they’re all happening at the same time, which is less than ideal. 

While the organizing business isn’t exactly taking off, other potential opportunities are. More than anything, I love to organize people, and I know that I’d be great at it given the chance. But, it’s getting to the point where I need to pay the bills more than do what I love, and, since my inbox isn’t exactly overflowing with requests, I might have to take a full time job and leave the organizing business behind, at least temporarily. 

The good news is, I might have found a full time job that allows me to organize someone’s life-which would be so perfect!! But it’s an extensive interview process, and I know that when I really want a job or an apartment or anything, for the most part getting too attached leads me to self-sabotage, which in this case I cannot and will not do. So, I’m trying to play it cool (not one of my strong points) and see where it goes. 

In the meantime, I’d love to answer some more questions, and at least try and help people who need organizing. How can I help? What would you like to see more of?

New Uses for Old Things: Shoe-Box Up-cycle

I have a problem with buying shoes, and another problem of not knowing what to do with shoeboxes. They’re all different sizes and colors, and they take up so much space in my large and yet small closet. While I keep some of my better (read: designer) shoes in their original boxes, I use the boxes for storing odds and ends all over the place. It was during an impromptu stop at Marshall’s that I discovered a way to unite all the random boxes under a common theme: covering them with uniform paper, or in this case, shelf liner. 

I’ve seen this done on Pinterest with brown paper bags and scrapbooking paper, and I was leaning towards using wrapping paper as it’s one of the few materials in which I can get a tight crease, and therefore clean corners. I wasn’t looking forward to glueing everything, though. That’s when I found this adhesive shelf liner!  

While I love the geometric pattern, the best part about this shelf liner was that on the inside it was graphed, so I could see exactly how much I would need: 

While they’re not entirely perfect (the first one I did had bubbles, and the pattern doesn’t exactly match up like my OCD brain would like it to), I’m proud of my first foray into up-cycling. Here’s the finished product! 

Calendars: Paper vs. Online

I have three calendars, one of which I don’t exactly need, but I have like a security blanket. I was thinking recently about organizing more than papers and emails, but your appointments, birthdays, bill payment reminders and time off, and how do you organize that? 

Paper Calendars
 I’ve always been a fan of paper calendars. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up with an iPhone, but there’s something nice about flipping to a day and seeing everything laid out, in your own handwriting. I got my first smartphone at 19, right before transferring to UCB, and avoided iCal at all costs. What if it didn’t back up? What if someone stole my phone and my entire “life” was lost? I kept the same Quo Vadis day planner for years, bright pink cover and all, until my online source for refills no longer sold them (but you can find them here: http://quovadisplanners.com/buy/online - mine was the Textagenda Daily because of the academic year, but they now have the notor, which is definitely my next purchase).  Now I have a DayMinder, which is nice as well. While there’s not as much space for notes, if I have an appointment not on the hour I can write it in. 

Online Calendars
 Now that I have more things to juggle, and not all are pertinent to daily life, I use iCal a lot more. What I like most about it is the ability to color code your entries, and make the time “free” or “busy.” That way, I can tell what’s really important (“must do” in red), versus just for fun (“social,” in yellow). 

What planners do you favor? Which is your favorite?

Inspiration + Motivation

Over the last week, I’ve tried to come up with blogs that will inspire other people who want to get organized. But recently, I haven’t felt all that motivated. I’m a shy person, which makes starting a business hard, because I’m not one to go up and sell myself or my work to others. Also, a lot of the things I think are fun and easy to organize aren’t really all that useful to others. 

So, I’m asking you: what are troubles you have when it comes to organizing? How can I help you organize? What would you like to see more of on this blog?

Pinterest: Organizing

I’ve found that Pinterest, while addicting, can be very helpful for finding inspiration for organizing, as well as tips and tricks to get you started. 

While I’ve only just begun pinning organizing things (as opposed to fashion, home decor, etc.), I think there should be a lot more activity coming up. 

Here’s the link to my board on organizing:

http://pinterest.com/emmadotbergmann/organize-my-life/

Enjoy! 

Organizational Apps: Cue

My christmas present from my sister was a subscription to Real Simple, and in the February issue they had a section that would apparently “change your life.” The app they highlighted was Cue, and I have to say it’s kind of amazing. 

Cue is a free productivity app through the Apple Store, and it is basically an aggregate app/personal assistant. You can link up all your email accounts, calendars, as well as social media pages so to get all your info you just open Cue. I just synched my iCal and emails, but it works with the entire google platform as well: docs, calendars, the whole deal. While I don’t have experience with it, I’ve heard good things. If you connect it to Facebook, it keeps all your friends contact info up to date, and tells you when it’s their birthday. All your appointments are in there, along with current weather, sunrise and sunset, and if you write the contact name the same way as it is on your phone, it’ll automatically check your contacts and put their name/phone number. My favorite part of this is the “running late” feature. If you are, Cue can text or call them saying you’re running late after you select just how far behind you are (5 minutes, etc.). 

Cue will connect over the Cloud if you have that active on your phone as well. I personally don’t have it, so I can’t speak to its effectiveness, but it works. 

You can also access Cue online, although right now it can’t display your iCal info. 

What apps do you use to make your life easier?

How to: Wind earphone cords

I’ve tried a million ways to keep my in-ear headphone cords untangled, with varying amounts of success. This is the best way I’ve found that doesn’t cause them to break or fall to the bottom of my bag in a messy heap: 

1. Start with the earbuds about half a hand’s distance away from your hands, max. They can be closer to it if you like. Then wrap the cord around your hand whichever way you’re used to. 

2. Once you’ve wrapped most of the cord around your hand, and while holding the cord  wrap together, slip it off of your hand.

3. Use the remaining cord to wrap tightly around the middle opposite the way you started.

4. Slide the end of the cord through the loop on the right and pull tight. 

To unravel when you’re ready to use, just pull the end back through the loop and pull the earbuds and connector away from each other. 

How do you keep your headphones in check?